I am in Thessaloniki, Greece covering the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. I was in the midst of an online watch of a featured film at the festival and a swaying started. I initially thought it was my chair wobbling a bit but after a millisecond I knew it was an earthquake tremor. It was very powerful but gentle. How strange the evening before I started thinking about earthquakes which are no stranger to Thessaloniki. On my last trip to the Aegean Island of Samos I missed an earthquake off the coast by a day.
You may ask did I feel fear. No. I felt totally helpless like a bug trapped in setting amber. The tremor had me swaying in my chair feeling that perhaps my end had come. Excuse my ignorance about earthquake tremors as the last earthquake I experienced was in Toronto on the 65th floor late on a Friday afternoon closing a business transaction. I felt nothing at all.
I felt wobbly for a few minutes after having to hold onto the wall to keep from tumbling over. Minor shock set in afterwards. I started to shake for a few minutes in disbelief. It was a 5.2 Richter scale earthquake close to the island of Crete. There have been no reports of injuries or physical damage in Greece.
Processing my experience, I recall a passage from the Buddhist monk Thupten Jinpa in his book “A Fearless Heart” where he said everyone can feel sympathy but perhaps we should move to a more feeling compassion. That sounded “interesting” but today I have a great compassion for those who have been through an earthquake far more serious than the little blip I experienced. A life experience can teach far more than a book.
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