How Can We Help?

Yesterday Russ came home to find me in tears because of a little injured bird outside my office window I'd spent much of the day trying not to worry about.

But worry was virtually all I did. 

Although she was alert and eating just fine, she couldn't maintain her balance and could barely hop a few inches across the snow to dry ground under a bush. 

All day I wondered what had happened to her, what I could do to help, wondered what would happen to her.  Trying to make peace with something I didn't know how to help.

I phoned the vet, the aviary, a friend at the Humane Society.  I called in angels (for both of us).  I brought the cat inside.  I asked fellow tweeters for suggestions, and then requested some long distance reiki be sent.  I put food & water within closer reach to her.  I wouldn't let Russ park in the garage because I was afraid he'd frighten her when he drove by.

I was a wreck over this little bird.

With that in mind, I can't imagine witnessing the damage done by the Australian bush fires. 

In fact, I've purposely not tuned in to the details of what's happened there. 

Someone emailed photos of "thirsty koalas," which were heartbreaking to realize what trouble these amazing creatures must be in to seek human help.  I saw the video clip of the firefighter rescuing Sam.  And I heard a human death toll at 118.  But other than running across that information by mistake, really, I haven't kept up to speed with what's happening.

Mostly because it seems a lot to bear.  I mean, I'm the girl falling to pieces over the little bird. 

How to make peace with what Australia is experiencing with these unprecedented fires?

It feels a lot to ask.

And yet we've been asked.

Someone requested I post about the Australian fires in order to harness the positive energy of this blog community, and to get strong vibes sent to the neighborhood that could use them now.  To help Aussies (and those across the globe watching) come to terms with the sadness and shock so many feel.

My first thought was that I don't post on topics that draw the energy down.  You won't find me writing about political wranglings or celebrity gossip or how bad the economy is.  After all, we're focused on what we want more of, right?  We know how to put our attention on what we want, which means we usually have to learn not to follow mass consciousness.

And yet ... something about that feels a little .. resistance-y.

It reminds me of when a clairaudient woman gave me a reading years ago and said, "No wonder you have such huge walls up.  You feel the pain of the planet and of mass consciousness."  She said the walls were how I avoided feeling others' suffering.

Which doesn't seem very .. well, my Mexican ex-fiance would say .. "That's not very 'white' of you."  (Yes, these are the colorful phrases burned inside my memory forever.  And I love that about me.  And my ex.)

Anyway ... law of attraction savvy people don't have to hide their heads in the sand about all the "bad news" flowing these days. 

We don't have to plug our fingers in our ears, singing "la la la" in order to avoid hearing the fears of our co-workers.  We don't have to avoid the news at all costs, afraid that if we hear a snippet here or there we'll get dragged along for the ugly ride.

I guess, to me anyway, it just doesn't feel quite right to say "that's your gig, not mine," completely detaching from a fellow being's challenge.  Because we're all in this together, aren't we?

And because we can help.

With this post I'm soliciting your best ideas about how to do that. 

• We know we don't help by joining another in their pain and suffering.  But perhaps we can alleviate some of their pain by offering compassion and sending love.
• It probably doesn't help to see the situation as "pain and suffering" either, since that perspective just creates more of those vibes.  Perhaps we can see things in a way that creates light and healing.
• We also know that praying for something as if it didn't already exist just perpetuates the absence of it.  So a helpful step might be sending prayers that are filled with the feelings we want for Australia and her inhabitants.

Maybe we know how to be in the presence of death and destruction without resisting it.  Maybe, together, we can alleviate the stress worn by a handful of fellow beings, and ease their burden with our simple presence of love and acceptance.

I'm inviting your thoughts because I suspect we've much to learn on this topic, myself especially included.

When my little bird was in trouble, or at least when I thought she was in trouble, I reminded myself that nothing really dies.  That we have the highest guidance along our journey.  That we are never alone, and that good things are always happening.

Even in this economy.  Even in this brush fire. 

Then I had a good cry which helped move the negative energy I'd been flowing, and allowed me to find my way to peace again.

Which is when my bird disappeared.  I went out with a flashlight but couldn't find her anywhere.  Very curious, I thought, that the bird who couldn't hop more than a few inches went a.w.o.l. 

I wondered if my worry had kept her stuck in place, and after my good cry she was able to move on.

But later that night Russ found her, picked her up in a soft towel, and placed her in the cat carrier.  She spent the night in the quiet warm upstairs guest bedroom.  Today she's at the local bird rescuer's place, on the mend and looking forward to a spring release.

Things always work out, don't they?  They always have and always will.  Time proves that out.  And it seems to work out best when we support each other with love and whatever other good vibes we can conjure up.

So here's to sending the good vibes to our Aussie neighbors.  You are not alone; we are with you; and much love is coming your way.

Namaste.