Life

Baldwin Village Fence; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Spring is here and I'm happy to be alive to enjoy it. My husband and I had a close call last weekend: we were rear-ended (a chain reaction with two cars). Then the driver who caused our 3 vehicle accident made an improper U-turn and smashed into another driver, totalling both cars in the process. Oh, he was on his cell phone when he caused the second accident! My husband and I watched the second accident, helpless to prevent it. No one died, thank God. 

Baldwin Village Fence; Photo credit © Karen Thiessen, 2014

Earlier this year, I read Rebecca Solnit's The Faraway Nearby. In it she spoke of "rupture events" that have the capacity to change us. A rupture can be a divorce, a serious illness, an accident, the death of a loved one, anything that shifts our thinking. To quote Solnit: "A major illness or injury is a rupture that invites you to rethink, to restart, to review what matters. It's a reminder that your time is finite and not to be wasted, and in breaking you from the past it offers the possibility of starting fresh (Solnit, p. 137-138)." Later she says: "Many lives have a moment of rupture that is an awakening and a change of direction (Solnit, p. 151)." I wonder if experiencing an accident and then witnessing another is my latest rupture event, and if it is, what changes will it introduce?