To Whom It May Concern,

It's 5:30 in the afternoon. Today was an odd kind of beautiful. It rained, the sun shone and the wind blew. Strange isn't it, how often we regard the type of weather as a major factor in how good our day was. As if the weather could exactly control our actions and our moods, we allow it to come into consideration in how we rate our day. That alone is proof that Mother Nature and Human Beings are undeniably important to one another. People cannot control nature, as much as we try to and as much as we believe we can. That said, Nature will always be vastly affected by People.

Today, the 11th of March 2012 is the year anniversary of Japan's tsunami. Today, I sat with my Mum and listened to six stories of that horrible event. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, follow this link to quickly read about it: http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/13137372/japan-marks-anniversary-of-tsunami-tragedy/. Something that stuck fast within me is a sentence they all repeated; 'I thought I was going to die'. With the exception of a melodramatic meltdown on the odd occasion, I have never uttered those words. It has never been a reality to me, to consider death at eighteen. Listening to those people I realise how much we do that is selfish, that is vain, because it is normal. Fussing over our clothes, worrying about our hair, stressing over relationships or sporting scores are normal to us. In fact, it is actually second nature to most to double check their reflection in the mirror before leaving the house. Why? Because you desperately fear leaving the house with your skirt tucked into your underwear, or breakfast in some unsightly formation on your teeth. Trivial little events that will cause embarrassment. We never leave the house worried about its low-lying positioning or its relative closeness to surrounding bodies of water. To imagine a life where that is our last thought as we begin our day is truly awful. We never considered how lucky we are until someone else suffers. That is so devastatingly heartbreaking.

Part of being Human is recognising and considering Nature. We think about it everyday. It's now 6:00 at night and I'm looking out my window. I'm thinking of the people who suffered. I'm thinking of the unassuming wrath that did not affect me. I'm sparing a moment out of normality to be grateful for what I have.