Before the construction began on the 35W bridge, I drove across it twice a day to and from work.  I enjoyed looking at the Mississippi and the feel of the highway.  There was a wind gauge on one side of the bridge that I always made sure to look at on the way into Minneapolis because I loved to see it spin.  After the construction began on the 35W highway, I took an alternate (though less favored by me) route over the 94 bridge because of so much traffic and dust.
    On the morning of August 1, 2007, I drove over the Mississippi on the 94 bridge.  As I crossed and was at almost the middle, all of a sudden the ground appeared to give way beneath me and, as I drove, I felt like there was no bridge under me.   I panicked a little bit and looked forward to where the bridge and the highway met before me, and after a few seconds, all of a sudden the bridge seemed to be back beneath me.  My thought at the time was, "okay, there goes another weird "scary potential" across my mind", then promptly forgot it....until 6:15pm that evening.
    I usually work at my job in Minneapolis until 6pm as does one of the people I supervise.  On August 1st, she made the unusual request to leave early which I granted.  I left work around 6:05pm that day.  By 6:15pm I was on highway 94 headed to the area where 35W and 94 come together before the Mississippi River.  As I got to the area where they connect, driving very slowly in a surprisingly large amount of traffic, I was listening to the radio hearing about a bridge collapse but didn't catch which one it was.  In the meantime, there were emergency workers streaming by, many with boats behind them.  By the time I got to where 35W and 94 intersected, I could see emergency personnel putting up barricades to make sure no one went on 35W.  And I finally heard on the radio that it was the 35W bridge over the Mississippi ("MY BRIDGE") that had collapsed with a proposed hundreds of people hurt or killed.
    I immediately called the woman I let go home early and was relieved to hear she was okay.  She had missed the bridge collapse by about ten minutes early, I had missed it by about ten minutes late.
    The feeling was reminiscent of 9/11.  There were many stories and pictures to come from that day, some tragic and some wonderful.  The kids who were saved from the bus, the father of one of the kids on my son's T-ball team seeing the bridge collapse in his rearview mirror, the emergency personnel coming off of vacations and days off to help the injured...  I heard second-hand of one particular story that has stayed in my mind.  There was an African American man (the only person of color) working on the construction crew.  For some reason, he was not allowed to take a normal break and had to eat on the run, was forced to work overtime, and was generally ignored or disrespected.  This man had requested many times to change crews without it being considered until the morning of August 1.  On that day he worked on a different crew.  At 6:05pm, the crew he had worked with up until that day fell into the Mississippi River along with the bridge.  The crew he worked with that day did not.  He helped save 9 people that day.   
    Someone I am close to worked on one of the many "recovery" dive teams in the days following the collapse.  He said the first time he boated to the area he was in a lock and couldn't see anything until it opened.  When it did, he said his heart dropped with seeing the destruction all at once.
    In the year after the collapse, I usually forgot about it.  After the news stopped carrying pictures and stories every day, I didn't go by the bridge much so I didn't get to see the visual changes.  One day about two months after the collapse, I went to see a movie on the University of Minnesota campus.  In order for me to get there from my work, I had to go on 35W very close to where there was no bridge.  I hadn't realized I was going to be so close, and as I came upon the area where I could see the bridge ended middair, I had a feeling of anxiety.  It didn't even seem like it came from me but more from outside of me from somewhere/one else.  It didn't last very long, either, for which I was thankful.
    A year later the bridge is almost completely rebuilt with "the gap" being closed within the last week or so.  I was expressing some trepedation about driving across the bridge for the first time (given the anxiety I experienced being close to it) to someone and she suggested a mass "walk-across" for anyone who wanted to walk across the bridge before driving on it.  I love that idea as it is so empowering and would definitely participate in that.
    For me, this will be a test of knowing my fear and doing it anyway.  I will be courageous and calm, I will be comfortable and safe, I will drive across that bridge.
    And, if I happen to feel other's experiences and emotions while I do it, I might just decide to make the 94 bridge my favorite bridge or alternate between them.  I am just grateful that I have choices.
    In some ways I think that tragedies bring out the best in us.  It helps to force us to look outside of ourselves and truly ask, "how can I help?"  The way people worked together during the event, the way they worked together after it to get all of the people and debris recovered, and the way they have been and are working together to get a bridge up in a year.  It is incredible and makes me appreciate humanity and being human.

Namaste,

Andrea

    I am meeting over the phone once a week with two women about creating what we want, whatever that may be.  The book we are using to set the stage for our conversation is Ester and Jerry Hicks' "Ask and It Is Given; Learning to Manifest Your Desires".  (It is based on the teachings of Abraham, a chaneled entity)  It was my turn to "pick the process" and I chose the first one called "The Rampage of Appreciation".  Basically, if you are in a pretty good emotional state already, you start to focus your attention on the things you appreciate, and then another and another until you train yourself to notice more of what you appreciate than what you don't.  It trains your energy and your soul to be more positive and in the mode of receiving.
    This past week was a challenge for me.  I worked long hours, had people that needed me to help them through emotionally draining events, and had many "surprises" that popped up along the way.  However, I started the week with my rampage on.  One thing that happened is that I noticed how much I actually do this already, and did it even more.  When I started down the road of feeling overwhelmed and/or negative, I tried to catch myself and think about what I appreciated.  I noticed, I took time, I appreciated, and I felt better.  By the end of the week, difficult things were still happening, but I found myself jumping up and down with excitement and appreciation, smiling more, and being energized.  I also found myself sharing "The Rampage" with three other people and I hope  they heard it and tried it to. 
    In the end, I felt more receiving of positive flow and events, felt happy, and appreciated (life, flowers, my children, calm, alone, trees, air, movement, dance, touch, breath, song...) more.  And I liked it.  Try it and you may, too.

I hope you get your rampage on.  If you do, please let me know how it goes.

Namaste,
Andrea
   

I enjoy discovering where the negativity is coming from and trying to turn it around.  Sometimes it is a laugh, sometimes it takes a caring comment, sometimes it is offering a different perspective, sometimes distracting them with appreciation, and sometimes it takes a show of true love from my heart. 

Namaste,
Andrea

Yes, one time, and it was great!  I look forward to meeting more Gaians in the non-cyber world.