Until this week, I have only seen the beautiful parts of Southern California. The beautiful beaches, wonderful weather, and even the people I’ve met exemplified what I pictured as Southern California. However, not everything is perfect and so was California. Two earthquakes hit, being the largest ones that occurred the last 20 years. An earthquake also hit our relationship with the other staffs.
When the first earthquake hit, I was merely confused. I was just unsure. Never having been in an earthquake, I only realized that I was experiencing an earthquake after quite a while. Even when I figured that it was an earthquake, my mind went blank and I froze. When the second one hit–the bigger one–, I was prepared despite the fact that it was also unpredicted. After the first earthquake, I reread protocols for earthquakes and watched several videos out of fear. I immediately knew what I going through when the second one hit. I knew what to do.
The earthquake that hit spiked our tension with the other staffs also hit without notice. When it hit, I wasn’t sure if the tension was towards us. After a while, it became clear the tension was towards us. Now that we knew what was actually going on, we prepared. We set up a meeting to avoid future miscommunications and clear our past misunderstandings. The meeting was meaningful and helpful, especially since we knew what to do.
In this one week, a lot happened. But what happened had happened and the best we can do is prepare for the next one. Preparations always help, in any situations.