Bringing Disaster Home

It is not a common occurrence that I become entranced with a public figure. I never had schoolgirl crushes on actors or musicians. My walls were never adorned with posters of pretty public figures, it just wasn't how I was.

So about a year back, when I discovered the blog of Clayton James Cubitt on Nerve, I was a bit surprised at my reaction to the writings and the photos. I was, in fact, infatuated.

I don't know if it was the words or the images, or how the two combined, but something about what he produces speaks to me. And because I feel some degree of kinship with it, I find I am drawn to it. I almost even posed for him, if our schedules had managed to work out, when I was in New York, in March.

So recently I find myself somewhat overwhelmed with the trials of a man I don't really know. You see, he's from New Orleans, and his family has lost pretty much everything. Not that they had very much to begin with. He and his partner have left their home in NY to go south to find and help his mother and brother. He has been posting his story, and images, to his blog. I find I have no words to share with him. There is a group of regular responders to his blog, like any other blog. And most of the other voices have managed to say something, I just find I have no words at all to express my reaction to his story.

I lived in New Orleans once, yet I find myself distanced from the tragedy. I spent one year there building homes for poor people with Habitat for Humanity and AmeriCorps. I wonder if our houses still stand. I wonder if the house I lived in still stands. One of my best friends is from New Orleans. He owns a house there, and his parents live there (they evacuated to Baton Rouge no problem). No word yet on the damage to their respective homes. But they aren't poor. Their homes are all uptown (one of the least badly flooded areas) And they will likely be fine. I wonder these things and yet I feel oddly detached. How can one process the magnitude of the disaster? Maybe you can't, unless it's shown to you in a way that makes it personal, in a way that makes you feel.

When CJC found out that his family was still alive (that was a week of painful blogs), and found out that their home was destroyed, he put some of his images on sale for a limited time, with the proceeds going to help his family rebuild. You can see (and buy) the images (by clicking on the folder in the upper left) and read his synopsis in his own words here.

I recommend checking out his Nerve blog "The Daily Siege", though it's a bit tedious to go through and make a free account, however, I think it's worth it.