I have lived on the Gulf Coast of Florida my entire life. For myself, and millions of others, the Gulf of Mexico is more than just a body of water – it is a way of life. We live by its rhythms. It is the basis of our culture and our economy. As children, we sat along the sugary white beaches and ate oyster po-boy sandwiches, letting the tide wash over our toes. Dolphins played in our passes, and on a clear blue day, with the sky full of birds, our hearts would swell knowing that we lived in paradise, and that this would last forever and ever. We were wrong.
The beaches are still white as snow, and the tourists are still here, bringing in money. The beer is still cold and you can still get an oyster po boy or some seared shrimp over cheese grits, but as we sit along the beach, smiling and laughing on the outside, we know that time is running out. Today, the air smells like oil. In our mind’s eye, we see a future full of oil-covered sea birds and a way of life that is just as damaged.
In light of the worst oil spill in United States history, it seems like the only thing to do is to sink into either resignation or cynicism. But I don’t believe that these are the only options. I believe that life is a rhythm, and that the heart of darkness holds the key to the light. This is the concept of yin and yang, of the natural flow of life. This concept of natural rhythm, and of the secret unity of opposites, is a core concept in the I Ching, an ancient oracle and treatise on how to live life as as superior person.
The I Ching tells us that everything in life is a rhythm and a flow, that nothing stands still and that even though we are in the darkness of night, that the light is there, behind the surface, waiting to be discovered by those who are clever. I believe that, and I believe that in the very real darkness that is spreading through our Gulf, there is a lesson for the wise.
The I Ching also tells us that nature is composed of three qualities: First, Heaven, the unseen unknown world, the subtle influences that affect everything else. Second, Earth, literally the earth, nature, matter, the part of us that conforms to biological laws. And finally, it speaks of the human element, us – our dreams and aspirations, our hopes and fears and, most of all, our ability to persevere.
Each and every one of us can do our part to bring the light into our personal world.
Regardless of whether you are spiritual or not, regardless of what political ideology you believe in, each of us can be there to help those around us. I look at my neighbors, my friends and family, and I know that we are each suffering quietly, and because that suffering is shared across our entire community, it means that together we can bear it. Today is dark, and the future is uncertain. Our way of life is threatened. Despite this, I am not afraid. I am hopeful. I will face the darkness and I will shine as a testament to the light hidden within it.
25 thoughts on “Surviving the Oil Spill”
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Hi,
How does one put a price tag, on an already critically endangered species such as the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle……which only nests in one area of the world…..the Gulf ????????????????
Wiping out an entire species is horrible Karma.
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
BP prediction update : As a professional psychic, I call them as I see them.
I do not see oil stopping until late October /first part of November.
It will get much worse on all fronts.
I also see turmoil in the streets starting ……people’s nerves are frayed in the Gulf.
I see tension building between the Fishing and Oil Industry causing turmoil and much fighting…..
BP will continue to NOT be transparent and will continue the legal wrangling…….
This will surpass the Chernobyl,Ukraine nuke accident …….by far,…easily.
Final estimate will be 80,000 to 100,000 barrels per day leaked out…….
Praying for the people and wilflife in the Gulf…..
Blessed Be )O( Gina Rose ext.9500
Hi,
I haven’t been so glued to the TV since 9/11……..it’s so incredibily sad…..almost surreal.
I feel so sad for the people, animals, marshes…….and,… as my friend in Hattiesburg stated…..helpless.
My prayers are with the people of live on ALL of the beautiful shores……
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
MIKA, YOUR ARTICLE REALLY “TOUCHED MY SOUL” ~~ BECAUSE I WAS ONCE THAT “LITTLE GIRL” SITTING ON THE WHITE SANDY BEACHES, ON THE EAST COAST, AND THINKING THE SAME THING!! BUT THAT’S WHEN I WAS A “LITTLE GIRL”!! AS I BEGAN TO GROW OLDER, AND SEE THE “BLUE GREEN” COLOR OF THE WATER SLOWLY CHANGE TO “GREENISH BROWN” ~~ AT ONLY 12 YEARS OLD ~~ I “KNEW” THE WATER WAS GETTING “DIRTIER” EVERY YEAR WE SPENT OUR VACATION THERE!! I ONCE HEARD MY MOTHER SAY TO SOME FRIENDS “IT’S BECOMING POLLUTED” BECAUSE OF THE LARGE SHIPS DUMPING GARBAGE INTO THE WATERS!! I REMEMBER HOW “UPSET” SHE WAS ABOUT IT ~~ IT SEEMED TO “PIERCE HER SOUL”!! IF SHE WERE ALIVE TODAY {GOD REST HER SOUL} SHE WOULD BE AS “ANGRY AND HEARTBROKEN” AS I AM ~~ AS “WE ALL ARE” FOR WHAT WAS DONE TO OUR WATERS FOR “qLKINF THSTAND” FOR THEY ARE A CREATION OF GOD!!
Received this email from my friend in Hattiesburg,Ms. just now…….
She says :
I saw the clip on the birds this morning. I wanted to cry. Well the oil has finally made it to Ms. It is at the small barrier islands out from our coast.
I’m watching a program on it right now and they were talking about what would happen if a hurricane or even a tropical storm came in right. Right now we haven’t had any odor yet. Hattiesburg is 85 miles from the coast. I’m sure as time goes on and it get closer to our coast, we may have some odor from it.
You sort of feel helpless.
Please keep everybody involved in your prayers…..especially the people in the Gulf area…..
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
Hi ,
My friend in Hattiesburg emailed me tonight…..she can’t smell it there…… yet, but is really worried that a hurricane # 3 or worse will create an even bigger crisis. She says she will keep me posted….
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
Hi Mika,
I sure do hope and pray that Gov. Jindal gets those sand berms he is so passionately requesting.
I’ve exercised considerable restraint, in choosing my words, in expressing my own anger over this…..it’s just a heartbreaking thing, on so many fronts, to watch.
My heart goes out to you , Mika,…. ….please keep us posted…..
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
Dear Mika,
Yes…..and now they just reported oil on an Alabama shore as well…….we are all praying and pulling for you……and WILL CONITINUE to do so…….we need to keep this in the spotlight!!!!
I’m waiting to hear back from my friend in Hattiesburg and will share her story and observation in here as well…..
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
Ohhh Mike,
This is very sad, my prayers are with you and those in the middle of this,
Thank you so much for keeping us update!
Blessings and Big Hugs!
Jacqueline x9472
The rain is pouring down…each drop smells like paint thinner.
Hi Gina Rose,
I totally agree with you about going electric even solar would not be a bad idea, I wish I would have gone electric before now, but its not too late, every bit will count, I have seen even last year that everyone was going to become more echo friendly, I have to say I missed this one, lol…. I have been talking to my family that we need to become more aware of the simplest thing, recycle everything, back in the 70’s when things were still a bit tight, we would recycle my dads old clothes and make new ones out of his old shirts (of course the ones that were still good), we have became to much of a throw away society, I believe this is our big wake up call that we are not the only ones here on the planet, now the sea people are dying because of our greed, I believe this is happening as well as the economic adjustment period we are going through to help us to become more aware and spiritually wake up, not necessarily religiously but spiritually look around everything around us is very much alive, everything! Okay enough of my lecture, just rambling…..lol
Blessings and Big Hugs!
Jacqueline x9472
Hi Mike,
This is not good, my heart and prayers goes out to you, this cant be healthy, this is going to have such a strong impact on everyones life one way or another.
Blessings and Big Hugs!
Jacqueline x9472
Dear Mika,
Please keep us posted………we are all praying for you and the situation there.
Wish we could do more to help you and others there.
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
Just walked outside, the air smells distinctly like an oil refinery. It leaves a taste in your mouth. I am going to do my best to chronicle this on here. Either in the comments or thru new blog posts.
Hi Jacqueline,
Well……I made a big change back in 2003…….when I re-modeled this old farm house…..I pulled out ALL of the propane gas and went totally electric……stove, hot water heater, heat source and cooling……this old farm house is 100% electric……
…..this area, local Electric tri-county Co-op company, has been ” talking ” about getting electricity from wind power for the last few years…. ( too bad we can’t also harness tornado winds…LOL) …… but my little farm house , being that I’m now already totally set-up all electric, I could go wind power at any time.
Now, if I purchase an electric car…..I will be totally electric in every way.
But, people in my area think I’m crazy !!!!!!! ….. They see no shortage of natural gas or oil or wood RIGHT NOW, (many have wood burning fire places as a main heat source down here) ….so why bother to change ????
That stubborn : ” that’s the way it’s always been ” attitude needs to change.
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
Hi Mike,
I truly felt your words and thoughts in relation to the gulf oil spill, this truly sad-ens me, you as well as many others will see the cause and effect of greed for many generations to come, as a society we feel the need for more and more as we do we seldom think of the consequences of this, we as a generation, must change how things have been done it is up to us, to bring a higher awareness that we are connected to mother earth and grandmother the water, how our actions do effect her, this is going to throw off her balance and this is such a great concern of mine, remember mother earth is on a balancing scale, through this oil spill it is causing a great imbalance.
I agree with Gina Rose perhaps an electric car may be in order. Verbena loved your comment….
Blessings to you Mike,
Jacqueline x9472
Dear Mika,
You have written a profound, wise and deeply moving homage to the Gulf Coast as it was, and marked a clear path for each of us to follow into the grim reality of the oil spill, and through that grim reality into a place where we can use the energy of our grief constructively.
As you and Gina Rose have pointed out, life on this beautiful blue and green jewel of a planet is about cycles, and our lives as humans are in large part about remembering that we, too, are a part of the delicate global ecosystem. Will we continue to wreak destruction like other “alien species” such as the kudzu? Or will we learn to be sensitive to the moods and rhythms surrounding us to blend with and support them?
I live in a place of abundant wildlife and natural beauty, on the California Redwood coast just a little south of the Oregon border. I allowed myself for a few brief seconds to experience how I would feel if the osprey and pelicans, salmon, crab, otters, seals and sea lions, dolphins and whales which play close to my home, and the pristine beaches, were obliterated by an oil spill. The grief was annihilating!
My heart goes out to each of you who is enduring this kind of experience, and I send prayers that we all find a way to follow Mika into the darkness of this grim situation while, as she said, shining as a testament to the light hidden within.
Thanks again for this moving article, Mika. I hope you will write more for the California Psychics blog and newsletter.
Blessings and gratitude,
Verbena
Hi TJ,
Hurricanes are not Karmic…..they are just part of the natural cycle of things…..
…. I think of them as Mother Nature, just giving Her hair a good wash & blow-dry. !!!!!!!!!!!!!
As a GrandMother , I’m furious over this oil spill…..would love to see my 2 year old GrandDaughter grow up to see and appreciate nature and all of the wildlife, un-spoiled , raw & beautiful….. and not dead and left a toxic wasteland.
As a professional psychic…..I see it as Karma in motion. We just can’t continue raping Mother Earth…….the taking and excessive, careless abuse, and not giving back, has to stop somewhere…..somehow.
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
I moved back home, to my beautiful Pensacola just last year. Those beaches call me back time & time again. My grandfather was a shrimp boat captain, and I wonder if the salt water isn’t in my blood. Other places I’ve lived, people have said, but there’s the lake. No. I want to sit on the sugar white beaches and look out into the gulf past the end of the world, in my child-like imagination, to where the only other place left to go would be Aslan’s home.
I always thought the balance was in hurricane season. I thought that evened the scales. We have permission to sit on her shores and enjoy the beauty, but in exchange, we have to bear her other side. I guess it wasn’t enough.
I have cried for my beach. I have cried for the turtles, my grandfather’s shrimp, my oyster gumbo. My eyes are open, though teary, to what we as mankind have done. You remember when you bugged your mother over and over again for something, and her answer was no ten times in a row? Well, on the eleventh, it was NO, and we were sent to our room, or lost a privilege or a toy? I guess mother has had enough.
Thanks for this, Mika. I made a trip to Pensacola Beach with the family yesterday to soak up the beauty that surrounds us….my heart aches at the thought of that oil spoiling beaches and killing wildlife.
Thank you for your kind comments Gina.
I feel like this is a situation that requires a new paradigm of thought, and more importantly, the ability to look beyond greed. Life here is so beautiful, that it just makes your soul shake to think it could end. Still, like I said in the article; we all have a little light, and I personally am going to let it shine 🙂
You know, I was watching a commercial on TV last night and the ad was pushing a luxury auto, 546 horsepower, V-8, can go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.46 minutes and seconds………
I won’t name the automaker, but the lunacy of the commercial, in light of our recent Gulf Spill catastrophe, struck me……….isn’t going green and saving our environment much more important than being able to go from 0 to 60 mph ” in style” ????????. And who really needs to go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.46
minutes and seconds anyway?????
Praying won’t make for change……yes, prayers are good,…… but CHANGE is what is really needed.
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500
Dear Mika,
I feel for you and the people of the Gulf………my best friend lives in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which isn’t all that far from New Orleans……
I said, weeks ago, I actually made a comment on Earth Day, around when the spill initially occurred, that it would be the worst man-made disaster in USA history.
As a professional psychic ….I do national AND global readings…..so….psychically speaking….I ” see ” no real relief will come until August…..putting this up near the Chernobyl,Ukraine incident in scope and far reaching scale. And I hope I’m wrong, but I haven’t been since this oil spill first started.
I think there are many lessons here for mankind , as a whole, to learn from. Will mankind learn ?????? That is yet to be seen. Or will Mother Earth just shake us off, like she did so many other ancient civilizations in the past, and start over.
Personally speaking, this latest oil spill in the Gulf, made up MY mind to buy an ALL- electric automobile next time I purchase a new vehicle…….I want off of oil/gasoline totally !!!!!!!!!!….it’s time for a change.
But that’s just me…..and I’m speaking only for me in that regard. Preserving the environment,and our heritage, to me, is much more important than driving a gas guzzler auto.
Mika, I will keep you and the other people suffering down there in my prayers…..every night and day…..
Blessed Be )O(
Gina Rose ext.9500