Recently Fred and I travelled a smidgen of the world. We went from Canada to Japan to Hawaii and back home.

While in Japan there was a typhoon in the Philippines and South Korea. Out shopping and seeing the sights, the winds came up and the rains pelted down. A few days later we were in Hawaii and while enjoying an amazing dish of pasta and listening to some great tunes, the musician announced. “I’m playing one more set, there has just been an earthquake off the coast of British Columbia and there is the warning of a tsunami headed our way.” Fred and I looked at each other and in unison blurted, “What?!” With that a siren flooded the airways and our server suggested we return to our hotel where we would receive instructions. The lower floors of the hotel were evacuated and we waited.

At the same time Hurricane Sandy was pummelling the east coast of the states and those in its path were likewise preparing to evacuate and shut down. We kept and eye on the news and as the tsunami warning lifted we waited to hear if our flight home to Canada would be cancelled.

Amidst rain and cloud formations I had not witnessed before, we made it home safely and in turn felt very blessed.

Our travels gave us the awareness that where ever we were, we were affected by weather that was taking place somewhere else. We have come to a time that reminds us more and more of just how connected we are. No one is an island unto themselves. The attitude, “It is happening to them, not us” is no longer accurate. Whatever happens to someone somewhere touches us in some way.

We never saw the typhoon in the Philippines, but we braced ourselves against its winds and we were soaked to the skin in Japan. We weren’t shaken by the earthquake off the coast of British Columbia, but we prepared for an evacuation in Hawaii and welcomed a family of seven from Montana who were bunking down in the hallway to share our room. We were never stranded by the flooding from Hurricane Sandy on the east coast of the United States, but we waited and watched and prepared to receive alternate plans for our journey back to Canada.

Like the weather – we are energy. As the weather ripples, swells, blows, rises up and reaches out, it touches us in some way regardless of our address. Likewise, our own behaviour extends past its body of origin and affects those who fall on our path, continuing out into the world circling the globe.

In the course of the day my mood, attitude, conversations, thoughts can contribute to the well being of my planet or they can pollute – poisoning my earth. In essence I play a part in determining the weather. I am energy and I can decide whether I am a sunny day, nourishing rain, gentle breeze or I can rage and rumble creating havoc, robbing others of livelihoods, security and well being.

Each day, all day I can choose my own forecast. Do I want to be part of joy, peace, health and growth or do I want to darken, wither, stamp out and strike down my fellow humans. I am this powerful.

So today I smile, I give thanks, I close my eyes and envision light going out to where it will serve best. I go about my day and I ask myself to be pleasant. I fill my mind with thoughts that uplift. As my energy moves beyond my physical being out into the ethers, I am conscious of the part I play in the preservation of my home; planet earth.

Photos: Mauii Hawaii 2012, Sharon Cooke