Since Katrina, my mind is full but my life is empty. I keep thinking of questions that I feel powerless to answer: Why did the disaster have to go the way it did, with so much needless suffering? Why has the rebuilding process been riddled with ineptitude and inadequacy so that even the well-meaning have been reduced to divisive competition for scarce resources? Will I ever again feel connected to a place or a community? What do I need to do to start enjoying life again? Before Katrina, I suppose I took some things for granted, which is not the most admirable way to live your life. But since Katrina, I take nothing for granted and I find my guarded distrust of the world to be depressing.
Donna Bonner, a native New Orleanian and a cultural anthropologist that lived and worked in New Orleans. She is currently completing an ethnographic memoir of her Katrina experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment