A few years ago,
I lost power. A massive blackout.
I went to the switchboard
The master switch had tripped.
Emergency power had restored to upkeep critical functions.
When I tried to switch it on, I couldn't.
For those of you who have tried to restore power, the next thing you would do is to shut everything down.
Switch on the master.
Then slowly flip switches one by one.
What I did.
Some things came back to life.
A few didn't.
What you do next is critically important.
You can try switching it on again, sometimes, by virtue that the cause of the power trip was something momentous like a lightning strike or a little bit of moisture on a loose exposed wire, the switch flips back up.
And sometimes it doesn't.
And you would then hunt for where that switch arose from.
Find the appliance that tripped.
If you're lucky, it's a simple toaster worth $5.
If not, it could be your fridge that's worth $5000.
Either way, most instincts would be to throw it away.
The fastest and easiest way. Buy a new one.
In some cases, you would call the electrician if you couldn't do that, and he could try to fix it, something incurring massive repairs from massive renovations.
Sometimes he would advise to not use that switch.
In some cases, if he's skilled enough, rewire it at the switchboard, in a way still isolating certain sockets.
In many ways our lives reflect these traumas.
And we react many a time in the same way.
For some it's easier to just throw things away.
For some, to rewire.
For some, to replace.
For some, to leave it switched off.
But most of us don't want the darkness.
We want light. We want life.
I don't think I'm any different.
We know they say plug into God, not into these worldly instances.
It's not always easy.
To live life on a different power source when you constructed life so much on these physical wirings.
And with certain essential life services depending on you, in my way, my kids.
Trauma - it takes time because of these reasons.
But I present you the trauma switchboard, may it bring you some hope and reflections. God bless.
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