So this happened earlier. My first experience of one in Jakarta. Possibly my first in Indonesia. But not my first. My first was in Tokyo. But I digress!

When it happened, I just so happened to only be clad in my unmentionables. – It’s hot here! And I was at home on a break after a long meeting!

So I’m sitting there, eating a snack, drinking my ginger tea, and watching an episode of Scandal. Suddenly, I think, I’m shaking… but it somehow doesn’t quite connect. Then I can see that things in front of me are wobbling, and out of the corner of my eye, the mirror on the wall is undeniably swaying from right to left, right to left. And I’m sat there, tray on lap, in me unmentionables! Beginning to hear excited voices from across the way, speaking over each other about what had happened.

And then it stopped. So I put down the tray, stood up, and decided I better put on some clothes. As if it happened again, I did not want to possibly end up running outside in my underwear! 😄

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As I checked in with a few peeps/they checked in on me, I heard other earthquake tales that had me laughing out loud. Like this from a friend in Japan. It was her response to me sharing how inappropriately dressed I’d been. I think she beats me!

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And then another friend, who felt the tremors too.She is explaining that as she ran out the office, she took her laptop.

She was the only one to do so. Why?Because in that moment she remembered she still had payments to make on it!

 

So why post about this? Well, because the hilarity of it -our responses not the quake- got my blog brain lit up. Which as I haven’t posted in a while, and to do so, is one of my ‘to dos’ for this week, is a good thing.

Also, while laughing about the whole thing with another friend, the question was posed,

“What do earthquakes tell you about what’s important to you?”

She laughingly pointed out that of course I would still go and get my clothes first. Even if I was going to die. And I was like too right!

But jokes aside, I think it’s a good question to ponder. When faced with the possibility of imminent danger, what would you grab for, try to save, be thinking about? Or if imminent danger is a bit difficult to imagine, think significant upheaval, or a life changing moment. Basically, an occurrence, when without much time to think or process, you need to act. It is possible, that at such a moment, things become much clearer. Some, and maybe even much of what we thought was so important, turns out not to be so important after all. And we may even be surprised by what does actual reveal itself as of primary importance.

I’m thankful, that my earthquake tales did not amount to anything serious. I’m mindful, that for some in Indonesia the effects of an earthquake in 2004, has forever changed their lives. I’m also aware, that in different parts of the world, for a number of reasons, people live their lives acutely aware of how things could change for them in an instant. I cannot dare to presume to know what they think or feel. But I do wonder, if they might have a greater measure of clarity when it comes to what’s really important.

So can I encourage myself, and you, to ponder the question posed. Even if only for 20 seconds.- The length of time the quake lasted.