2What Does Mindfulness Even Mean Anyway?It's Simpler Than You Probably Think
Mindfulness in the Midst of Disaster
A week after Hurricane Katrina had ravaged the Gulf Coast and the levees had breached and flooded New Orleans, U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen flew into the devastated city for the first time. Chaos and suffering had reigned in the first days after the storm, as federal, state, and local leaders were overwhelmed by the scope of the disaster. There had been many examples of heroism performed by rescuers from the Coast Guard, other agencies, and private citizens, but thousands of people were still trapped in their homes a week later, bodies were laying in the streets, and a public safety crisis was evolving at the Superdome as storm refugees were trapped there with very little water or food. By the time Admiral Allen was asked by the president to take over the government's response, New Orleans was on the verge of anarchy. Allen's job was to pull the situation back from the brink and to come up with a plan that would accelerate the recovery from the storm.
In an interview for this book, Allen told me what he saw from his helicopter as he approached New Orleans and how that shaped his thinking and approach:
When we flew in over the city it was still filled with water. The water was black. The odor ...
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