March 11, 5 Years Later

I've been toying around with what to say here for months and still have no idea. I know it's been five years since the quake and tsunami, since my mother spent her birthday without confirmation of life from me and since my husband (then boyfriend-almost-fiance) risked his life driving into Sendai to get me.

And it's a long story, and I already told it a thousand times. The next time I tell it, it will be in book form. If you don't know it, here's the Star-Telegram article on the subject.

Five years, eh? And my daughter has been alive for half of that.

My life is a lot different. Less income, but more on top of my student loans (sort of), and honestly a lot more emotionally healthy. I make art sometimes now, and not always in writing. When I splurge, I spend 2000yen at the 100 yen store or buy myself a cup of coffee in Sendai. Or go to the crazy sale at Book Off on the 29th.

So I guess my message on this fateful day is to live life to its fullest and try not to be afraid. To any timid folks, scared of being in Japan during a massive quake or tsunami, I can say just a couple of things.

First, the likelihood of any of that happening is small and these specific catastrophes cannot be accurately predicted, so freaking out ahead of time is a waste of time and energy. If you're visiting Japan for any length of time, you will probably feel some small quakes. Big ones are scarier, but not that scary in the moment in my experience. If you're going to experience an earthquake and live through it, this is where you're going to do that.

Second, follow the leader. If something were to happen, do what the locals do and most of the time, you'll be fine. Or at least just as wrong as the locals. If someone who has lived here their whole life does it a little wrong, you probably will be forgiven for doing the same thing.

That's really all I have to say about that. I might try to Vlog (ooh, something new) tomorrow from Sendai if it feels appropriate. We're going for other reasons, but if we can shoot a little video for youtube, too, well...what the heck.

So go live life, people!