Making Lives Simpler Newsletter

Practical News and Tips
For Living the Life
You Truly Desire

November 2003 Volume 7 Issue 5

IN THIS ISSUE:

I. What Would You Take?
II. Five Quick Tips
III. References
IV. VR Self Help.com

I. What Would You Take?

My husband and I had to evacuate our home in the San Diego area as the recent historical and devastating Southern California wildfires headed right toward us.

When we got up that Sunday morning and took our usual first casual look outside, we were stunned to see our normally blue sky turned an eerie dusty peach color with huge plumes of dark gray and black clouds. It wasn't long before it took on a threatening reddish highlight from an out-of-control fire just over our hillside.

We immediately turned on the TV to learn what we could. All the local television stations had reporters on several scenes with billows of smoke and rapidly advancing fire behind them telling us the fire had started early the evening before in a wilderness area about 30 minutes from our home and was now headed in our direction.

I could tell by looking at the sky that this was no ordinary "bush" fire as we've seen and experienced before. I knew in my heart that we'd better start taking some protective action. I quickly turned on a cycle of our landscape watering system to wet down the ground cover that lies near our house. Just past the ground cover is a "fire break" clearing we had created on the advice of the local fire chief at the time we moved into our home. This 25-foot wide clearing, void by design of any vegetation at all, separated our home and landscaping from acres of natural habitat consisting of many, many years' worth of dry bushes, shrubs, natural grasses and other old growth. Then I grabbed a suitcase and began packing a few clothes, medications and other overnight necessities, as I grappled with frightening thoughts of having to evacuate our home.

Meanwhile, the dark, smoky clouds became larger, drew closer and hovered over us. We backed both cars out of the garage, faced them toward the street and tossed the suitcase in. We felt we still had a little time, so the next question was what else should we take that we wouldn't be able to replace if the unthinkable happened?

Into another suitcase we packed our photo albums. I then decided, backup files or not, to disconnect our computer towers and put them into the trunk of one of the cars.

We then went room to room asking ourselves what couldn't be replaced. We took some framed 100-year-old historical documents that are part of Chuck's family heritage along with his grandfather's old ceremonial sword and added them to the trunk of a car. Looking around quickly, everything else just looked like "stuff."

Right before leaving, I decided to take a few of my bed pillows to help create a home comfort zone, if needed. I added our solar-powered, wind-up radio so we could keep current wherever we might end up. We then closed all the window blinds, took down the curtains which could actually catch fire solely from the intense heat from the glass and, after closing off each room by shutting its door, my husband and I left driving separate cars but staying together.

Because we didn't wait until the last minute, we didn't have to scramble madly, leave in a frantic rush, or feel overwhelmed about what to take or what to leave. While we were both very nervous and tense, we were still able to handle things with some sense of calm. We really didn't know where we were going; we just drove down the hill toward town. Although our neighborhood had not yet been officially evacuated, at the time we left, I could see the flames of the fire coming from the other side of the hill near our house.

There had been a lot of cell phone activity among all the neighbors and soon others were starting to make their decisions to begin their voluntary evacuation, too. One neighbor told her teenage sons they had exactly 15 minutes to decide which were the most important things they wanted to take from their rooms.

We later heard it wasn't too much longer after we left before authorities drove through our neighborhood to officially evacuate the area. Had we waited, we would have been given the "you have five minutes to get out" notification. With only five minutes, what would we have taken? Five minutes goes by very quickly, especially when surrounded by fire and fear.

The fire did come over the hill and began burning in two directions, totally covering all the hillsides surrounding the 20 houses in our little area. It was burning up to the streets to get to our houses. You could hear it as it consumed the dry tinder. It seemed the fire was everywhere. The smoke was so thick that it had long ago blocked out the remains of an orange sun and took over the sky, making it look like an overcast dark, stormy day. At one point, a wall of grayish smoke prevented us from seeing up the street to our house.

There were no firefighters available for us, either. There was no fire equipment to respond. They had all been called earlier to fight the raging wildfires in other areas. City, county, and state personnel were clearly stretched way beyond their limits. There just wasn't enough help to go around and all we could know, and later see, were flames moving within a hundred feet on two sides of our house. We wouldn't know for another 24 hours that we, along with our 20 neighbors, were incredibly fortunate — that somehow, even though the fire made our hillside area look like the inside of a giant black bowl, all 20 houses survived! We were very lucky and so very grateful that we no longer needed to wonder what all we might have lost.

A few nights later, with the smell of smoke still in the air and an occasional ash falling like a black snowflake, we went to the emergency town meeting to see what we might be able to learn or do for others. We met people who had lost everything, who left their homes with only the clothes on their backs, who now have to rebuild their lives from scratch. With tears in her eyes, one woman said to those of us in attendance, "I don't know what I'm going to do just yet. All I know for sure is a week ago, I had no plans that I had to build a house."

I have since thought many times, what "stuff" will those who now only see a pile of ash where their homes once stood replace? What did they lose that they'll mourn from their past? What "things" will become important to them in the future?

Tragedies are times that people stop, reflect and ask themselves important questions. And I ask you, what's really important to you in your life right now? What things, what people, what values? If you had to get out suddenly, quickly, without warning and with a feeling of fear, what would you take?

Linda

P.S. If you'd like a glimpse of the fire — before, during and after — go to http://picturecenter.kodak.com/share?invite=bE6r4q82kmaFXUkU7k18

II. FIVE QUICK TIPS

1. Find out what type of emergencies could happen in your area and how to be properly prepared. For example, when we moved to San Diego, we knew that wildfires could be a threat so we invited the fire chief to come to our new home and tell us what we should do with the house and land to be prepared.

2. Now is the time to put together your emergency plan, before an emergency occurs. Do you have a central place for important phone numbers, extra cash, disaster supplies like flashlights, batteries, and transistor radios? For some great information, check out http://www.RedCross.org.

3. Remember to include your pets in your disaster plans. Emergency shelters cannot always accept pets so you'll need a plan. Include leashes, carriers, pet food, even a current picture of your pet in case you become separated.

4. Take a look around at your belongings. What's important, and what's just "stuff?"

5. Determine the difference between what's important and replaceable versus important and irreplaceable. There are a number of things that might be important to you that can actually be replaced at a later time.

"One day, perhaps, unimaginable generations hence, we will evolve into the knowledge that human beings are more important than real estate, and will permit this knowledge to become the ruling principle of our lives."
- James Baldwin

III. REFERENCES

To find more resources or to order these, go to
http://www.simplifylife.com/reference.html

" Take Your Time" by Eknath Easwaran
(Room 1 – Define Simplifying Your Life - http://www.simplifylife.com/stratgy1.html)

" Take Your Time offers a concrete approach to dealing with the hurry pressure in our lives. Written in a clear conversational style, this book outlines practical tools for slowing down our thinking and the pace of our days. Using these tools regularly, we can find that point of balance in our lives where we are most focused, efficient, and loving"

IV. VR Self-Help.com

The holidays are just around the corner and this can mean stress and anxiety for some. There are some great programs available at The Virtual Reality Self-Help Center, http://www.vrselfhelp.com, to help with that feeling of overwhelm, such as:

"The Most Stress Free Holiday I Have Ever Had!" a 4-session telephone class, December 1, 8, 15, & 22. Are you managing holiday stress . . . Or is the stress of the holidays managing you?

"Top 3 Ways to Overcome Overwhelm During the Holidays," a one-session telephone class December 6. Do you get overwhelmed with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays? Learn the top three ways to overcome overwhelm and experience more power, serenity and joy during the holiday season.

You don't have to be a member to use the vast educational resources or even take a class at this exciting new site. So, visit http://www.vrselfhelp.com now and take a look around.

MORE ABOUT "MAKING LIVES SIMPLER"

Linda Manassee Buell is a full-time Personal and Business Coach, and author of the tips eBooklet, "Simplify Your Life, 101 Ways to Create the Life You Love," the audiotape, "Simplify Your Life, 7 Simple Strategies for Doing What You Love to Do," the revised edition of the workbook, "Simplify Your Life: A Journey of Personal Discovery," and her latest book, "Panic and Anxiety Disorder, 121 Tips, Real-life Advice, Resources & More." She is also the President and Executive Director of The Virtual Reality Self-Help Center, vrselfhelp.com, an Internet- based resource center for mental well-being.

To order your personal copy of any of the above by check or credit card, just go to http://simplifylife.com and click on "Shop the Store."

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The contents herein are solely the opinions of Simplify Life and Linda Manassee Buell.

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