After Sandy: A Lesson Learned from the Storm

Let’s face it: we’ve all become used to a certain amount of comfort. We have unlimited information at our fingertips with the Internet. Our homes are climate-controlled. We don’t even have to get out of our cars to get food.

For many, Sandy put an end to those comforts. For me, four days without power showed me that I can live without quite a bit.  And I have to say that the week off I had because of Sandy was one I’ll never forget, not because of the hardship, but because of the people I spent it with.

My roommate, boyfriend, mutual friend, and I spent a few days together without gadgets getting in the way.  We played poker, board games, and made a nifty heating/light source with a can of Spaghettio’s, a lighter, and some Everclear.  At some point during the week, I took a step back from the laughter and the many blankets piled around and realized that my three companions and I wouldn’t be sharing this time together were it not for the storm.  We wouldn’t have thought to hang out.  We might have been too busy or made excuses.  But here we were: cold but content.  It reminded me of a line from the Jason Mraz song “I’m Yours”: “Open up your plans and, damn, you’re free.”

I often wonder why it seems like I never have time to do anything.  Sandy was a pretty stark reminder of the fact that a lot of my “busy-ness” is self-imposed.  Although my power came on about a week and a half ago, I just got Internet service back yesterday (otherwise I would have posted sooner).  Now that all of my creature comforts are back, I’m sad to say I’ve fallen back into a lot of my technologically distracted ways.  But, I’m going to try to not spend so much time staring at a glowing screen.

I’m trying to re-evaluate my priorities.  Hanging out with people or reading or spending time outside is awesome and fairly liberating.  The Internet will still be there when I get back.

One thing’s for sure: I certainly don’t want to suffer from FWP (First World Problems) again.

How about you?  What did you learn/what was your favorite memory from Sandy?