A couple weeks ago when we were in Hannover, Germany, and I had just stepped off the bus from having visited Christina in nearby Ronnenberg, I stopped and just stared at this building being demolished. It's across the street from the hauptbahnhof (train station) and used to house the Tourist Information office for the city. Many a person, I 'spect, walked through their doors over the years.
Today they are intentionally tearing it down to replace it with a parking ramp for the city center. As so often happens, it wasn't until later that I noticed the in-tact window in the midst of all the demolition. HOW did it not shatter?
Have you ever noticed how many people around us go through devastating experiences in their lives and, instead of shattering to smithereens, actually grow stronger!
Maybe YOU'RE one of those persons? Unshattered!
Today they are intentionally tearing it down to replace it with a parking ramp for the city center. As so often happens, it wasn't until later that I noticed the in-tact window in the midst of all the demolition. HOW did it not shatter?
Have you ever noticed how many people around us go through devastating experiences in their lives and, instead of shattering to smithereens, actually grow stronger!
Maybe YOU'RE one of those persons? Unshattered!
Maybe you and I tapped into an energy in the air, and we subconsciously posted a memorial of sorts.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe this window didn't shatter either, and I love how you've tied it to humans, such as Anna Akhmatova in my post on Synchronizing, and also on Lafayette on Paris Deconstructed.
very interesting history that building...
ReplyDeleteI tend to think I'm one of them, but I definitely complain way too much. ;)
Very fascinating, Ruth. I'm still thinking about that!
ReplyDeleteET: I guess we have all had our moments when we FEEL shattered, but then we come out of it whole and in one piece!
Someone once told me that our strength comes from our scars, the places where our skin is thickest.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting read followed by that picture!
ReplyDeleteDo you know that in Chines the word for crises is equivalent to opportunity?
Btw: Thanks for your birthday greetings - hope you'll come over to celebrate my one year blog anniversary too:-)
T1: I totally believe it! "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Friedrich Nietzsche
ReplyDeleteRenny: Yes, I've heard that--crisis connected to opportunity. I like that.
And now, I'll go see your one-year anniversary post!
*waves hand* :-)
ReplyDeleteI guess there's a little piece in all of us that wants to survive no matter what.
BTW I was downtown on Saturday and the the building is completely gone now, leaving the site looking almost peaceful. Good thing too - I was getting a bit tired of all the destruction.
P.S. thanks so much for Saturn stuff. I will mail you ASAP. Mercury is STILL driving me crazy. Not a moment's peace. :-)
That is amazing that the window remained unshattered. I liked your way of relating it to life.
ReplyDeleteI suppose we all have to go through such experiences at some point in life. Working in the rehab/wheelchair business, I know more than enough people like that and I'm stil amazed at the power of the will to survive.
ReplyDeleteChristina: Yes, about the survival instinct. And thank God!
ReplyDeleteI'll arrive in Hannover on Dec. 5, so I'll see if the parking ramp has been started.
I'll be looking for your e-mail. Hang in there till Nov. 18 on MR! Things should then calm down as Mercury goes direct!
Tim: Thanks!
CS: Yes, you surely see it all the time. I saw a blurb the other night on the evening news about a blind 18-year-old boy who plays the piano and the trumpet. His dad maneauvers him in a wheelchair in their college's marching band. They've apparently been working in synch like this all his life. Talk about an inspiration!
I like that you took this photo. So many photos are taken of the "perfect, Kodak moment." That's not very realistic, is it?
ReplyDeletealso...may i steal that quote above..be off the charts in kindness. I love it. I love the phrase "practice random acts of kindness..." as well
Jessica: Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment. Of course you can "steal" that quote--one of my favorites from Clarissa Pinkola Estes. I'm sure she'd be honored.
ReplyDeleteThat young man is in the University of Louisville Marching Band. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, you speek with a lot of sense, and people's comments are also making a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteI love the way chinese associate the word crises with opportunity, I've heard that before, and I think I must be chinese... ¦O)
But it's true that all crisis periods are great opportunities to get more mature, very painful sometimes, but it help to grow faster! :O) And after, how you appreciate what you have! :O)
Susan d: Yes, that's right, now that you say it. Awesome, indeed!
ReplyDeleteClo: If anyone knows of what they speak, it is YOU, dear Lady!