Becoming a Person of Power

"The Third Eye" - by lusiusmalfoy @ deviantART

So, we ended up getting about 2 inches of snow by the end of Tuesday. And for those who haven't already heard, those 2 inches completely shut Atlanta down.

Essentially, what happened was that our city decided not to pre-treat the roads. We weren't sure if we would be getting that much accumulation, since the day before, we had enjoyed almost 60-degree weather. On top of that, many schools and businesses thought they would try and beat the snow - but their mistake was letting everyone off of work/school at the same time. It started snowing at noon, and within the hour, everyone who had gone to work and school began to leave. But as people were out dealing with this early sort of "rush hour," it got colder, and the snow that was melting on the supposedly warm streets began to freeze into sheets of ice, slowing all traffic down until it was completely gridlocked. There were loads of accidents; buses with kids on them couldn't go anywhere; people spent hours and hours in their cars and eventually abandoned them; police stopped responding to any accident that wasn't lethal, and the Georgia Department of Transportation couldn't get the roads treated because of the gridlock. Most roads they treated ended up refreezing an hour later, too. 

But through all this, we got to witness something truly amazing: strangers helping strangers. We heard stories of people who opened up businesses and convenience marts and even their own homes to take in stranded drivers. People would carry food and water and hot chocolate to those stuck on highways. Sheriffs would drive to people's houses and escort them to their abandoned cars. Tow services didn't charge those who couldn't reach their cars in time. 

It was a really beautiful thing to hear. In fact, we hardly had any news of people taking advantage of the situation. I read of one burglar who ended up getting stuck in the snow outside his victim's house, but that was it. Everything else consisted of people helping people. It was so awesome. 

Perhaps events like this will slowly start to affect the population - in which case I hope for more crises, as inconsiderate as that may sound. It's just so silly to me that we only feel obligated to help each other in times of catastrophe. 

Ah, well. In time, I guess.

Moving on, though, I finished Spirit Walking today, which unfortunately means I'm out of new reading material. But that's okay, because I plan on rereading each book and jotting down the various impressions and ideas I receive. It'll lead to better absorption and comprehension, I think. 

I do have quite a project ahead of me, though. I'm still working on healing fears and insecurities, but the path of becoming a person of power is a long and difficult one. I imagine it's like enduring a second childhood; it's magical and mystical, but at the same time, I'm essentially relearning how to live in this world. I'm unlearning everything that society has taught me and starting with a clean slate.

I'm beginning this journey with two things: awareness and gratitude. Becoming aware of how I act and react - especially when conversing with others - will help me identify potential issues that I need to address. Gratitude will help bring harmony and abundance as I work through the "icky" stuff.

One last thing to mention for today: I really need to work up the courage to tell my dad that I want to attend UMS. I think the guilt outweighs the embarrassment right now, because my parents are spending a lot lately, and I just found out today that my dad's been swamped with work. I feel like I'd be pestering him or stressing him out even more if I told him that I want to attend UMS and that I need help paying for it. 

But I need to act now. I can't sit and hope things will be delivered to me without any effort. I need to get over this fear...