We are creatures of survival; that is why we are still thriving, evolving and living on this beautiful planet called EARTH.  In my lifetime I have personally experienced World War II bombings and then escape from a country in the grip of communism.  I have had to start my life in a new country with new language and culture twice.  Then the disintegration of a marriage resulting in the role of a single parent have all been disasters of some form.  Yet I truly feel that they have been the fibre, no actually the framework, of the tapestry that represents my life.

Rather than disasters, I consider all of the above as challenges that forced me to evaluate where I was, what resources I had and how to move forward with them.  I believe that I have come out at the other end as a more interesting, resilient and capable individual.  It is from the ashes of the Phoenix that we have  a new beginning.  Many cultures including the Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Egyptian, Persian and Native American have counterparts of the Phoenix.  Interestingly as I was listing the names I realized that there have been amazing changes in China, Japan, Russia and Egypt.  And all these changes are creating a better world.  Let us hope that the same holds true for our Native Americans; that they too are in the process of rising and rebirthing.  

In closing I would like to quote the feng shui master Lam Kam Chuen from his book The Feng Shui Handbook:  "A mythical bird that never dies, the phoenix flies far ahead to the front, always scanning the landscape and distant space.  It represents our capacity for vision, for collecting sensory information about our environment and the events unfolding within it.  The phoenix, with its great beauty, creates intense excitement and deathless inspiration."  To me this quote represents mankind and how we deal with disasters, whether they be personal or global.  The most recent global disaster, in Japan,  will also create inspiration and excitement for a rebirth.  I am full of hope and optimism.