What Nate Berkus Taught Me

I don't know about any of you, but quite frankly - the news is making me feel depressed. I can't imagine what those poor people are going through after Hurricane Katrina. My heart breaks for them. I am easily depressed. Watching the news is something I generally steer away from. I remember feeling so distraught last year at Christmas when the tsunami hit overseas. I tried to identify with those people, but had no connection - I couldn't have picked Sri Lanka out on a map at the time if I had wanted to. And then I read on CNN that Nate Berkus, who I knew from watching the Oprah show once in awhile had been caught in the tsunami and that he had lost his partner. My heart ached for him and the pain I was certain that he was going thru. I can't imagine watching someone I love being torn away and tossed out to sea. Without even really thinking, I sent an email to him through his company's website. A month later I was invited to the Oprah show. I remember him saying over and over - when tragedy strikes do something - no matter how small. He said, "For the first three days when I was back in Chicago, I went to bed every night with a stack of thoughts and prayers from people for me and for Fernando and Fernando's family. It literally made me go to sleep and gave me reason to get up." When I heard him say that it was a startling thing - I thought back - how long did I consider whether to send a note or not? How long did I contemplate whether or not he would think it was stupid? How close did I come to just going about my regular routine? How close did I come to turning my head and looking the other way? We can't pretend that Hurricane Katrina didn't happen. It's a horrible reality. Whatever you do - do something - and do it out of love.