It seemed too perfect to be true.
I was walking back from chemistry class one day when I happened upon a poster for a lecture on April 6. The speaker was Rebecca Solnit, the inaugural Trindle Fellow. I didn't know what a Trindle Fellow was at first but then I realized that the fellowship is associated with Brown College, where I'll be living next year.
It was the topic of the lecture, though, that really got me. Solnit's most recent book, "A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster," explores how disastrous circumstances often bring out altruism, determination and a new sense of purpose in the people affected. In her lecture, Solnit would discuss this universal pattern of human behavior.\nThis is a phenomenon that is often mentioned casually in conversation: the spirit of the victims of Hurricane Katrina as they came together to salvage, rescue and rebuild; the worldwide effort to help Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake; the massive outreach to survivors of Sept. 11.
It also is a phenomenon that affects people on a personal level, causing them to rise to new heights from adversity. Helen Keller, in the midst of the challenges of being blind and deaf, strove to become a contributing member of society and an inspiration to countless people for centuries to come. Stephen Hawking battled a severe motor neuron disorder to become one of the most renowned scientists and lecturers of all time. People, it seems, are programmed to rise to the challenges life places before them.
Though my injuries were by no means as drastic as a natural disaster or a terminal illness, they still provided a challenge that took fortitude to overcome. Throughout my healing, I was able to seize opportunities and to think about my purpose in life. I know now that, more than ever, I want to go into orthopaedics and help others who have suffered bone injuries. I want to continue to use my writing to reach out to my community.
Healing three pelvic fractures - which are known to be some of the most painful and slowest healing of all orthopaedic injuries - while dealing with the fallout of an accident and adjusting to my first semester in college gave me confidence to pursue my future goals. I feel like my purpose has been clarified and distilled and I've been blessed with a thankfulness to still be alive, which motivates me to make life worth living.
With that being said, I was especially eager to hear Solnit's lecture. Was what I felt - and still continue to feel - after the accident a universal response to adversity and turmoil?
As I soon discovered, it was. Solnit touched on various facets of the disaster experience. One particularly interesting point was the "improvisation of order out of chaos" so often observed when disaster victims must resurrect a way of life out of the turmoil surrounding them. She noted that the feelings of pity that tend to surface in times of disaster nearly always come from the victims themselves but from those observing at a distance.
Disasters, Solnit said, give us an unusual opportunity to focus not on the past or the future but on the present as it is set before us. Hurricane victims must find food, shelter, water, their loved ones. Rubble must be sorted and the injured given the medical attention they need. The calamities also inspire in almost everyone affected an ability to rise above the difficulties they face.
"Transcendence sneaks in everywhere as a survival response," Solnit said.
"Survival response" is an apt characterization, and not just for personal survival. Solnit talked about accounts from survivors of Sept. 11. People filed down stairways and helped one another to safety. A paraplegic man was carried down 69 flights of stairs. A man fleeing the scene slowed down so he wouldn't lose his coworkers.
Perhaps the most unusual way of describing disaster was one of Solnit's last comments: Disaster is often "liberating."
With disorder comes a clean slate, a means for innovation, adaptation, even positive change. People are naturally creative, and sometimes, a disaster is what they need to free themselves from societal constraints and develop new communities and lives.
Though I may not have lived through an earthquake or been a hurricane victim, my own injury presented me with new ways to connect to other people. During Solnit's talk, I thought about how complete strangers stopped at the scene of my accident to carry me out of the road and call an ambulance. A woman at the scene offered to let me lie down on her couch until paramedics arrived.
Even more powerful is the solidarity I feel with others who have been through similar experiences. My biology professor shared his story of being hit by a car during his first year of college. Other people have told me their accident stories and asked me to share mine.
With these people and survivors of large-scale disasters, I share an unfading gratefulness to be here. As Solnit said of disaster survivors, "Only now can they enjoy life, because they no longer take it for granted."
Courtney's column runs biweekly Fridays. She can be reached at c.hartnett@cavalierdaily.com
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