This has been a stressful week work-wise for me. Every client who has been "resting" (to put it politely) on their projects woke up at the same time on Thursday afternoon. It was just plain strange. And disturbing. Meanwhile, along with the rest of the country, I was already distracted and distressed by events unfolding in New Orleans. So, in a lot of ways, I feel sort of stupid about worrying about work.
I mean, sometimes you really have to look at the big picture. Last night, James and I were discussing how we were both feeling really depressed and upset. Because I’ve had so much work and am dealing with a gigantic new project, I’ve been glued to my computer. The downside of an “always-on” connection is that you can flip over to a web site in a heartbeat while you’re waiting for the latest gigantic file to download in your e-mail program.
As I’ve noted here before, we don’t watch TV news, but even reading a couple of reports on the news Web sites fills you in with enough information on the hurricane disaster area to make you understand the magnitude of what those people are dealing with now.
Even though we, and everyone I know is upset, the reality is that right here and right now in the middle of a tiny town in Idaho, our lives are fine. A whole lot more than fine actually. And I’m more grateful for that than ever.
Feeling upset and unhappy isn’t helping the people in New Orleans. However, donations can help. I’ve seen many sites that are encouraging donations to reputable agencies like the Red Cross and the Humane Society (animals are affected too). If you’ve never heard of an agency, check with the Better Business Bureau before you donate. We all want to help, but profiteers will be cropping up, so be careful and don’t waste money on any online "charities" that really aren’t.