NOLA & 9/11 - Artists Emergency Kits

Along with reading the outstanding book Getting Things Done recommended by Alison Stanfield, I'm also digging into the fascinating Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism & Organized Crime.  Going into this I wasn't sure if it would be seriously disturbing or more illuminating. Now I'd say it's a good dose of both.

Of course this reminds me of my experience on September 11, 2001 and the aftermath when I was so artistically immobilized - but honestly any day in which the skies of northern Virginia are clear and blue the smell and sight of a burning Pentagon pops up unbidden from the newsreel of my memory.

I'm not so sure everyone else in the neighborhood feels the same. I think that the artists' senses do us injustice in times like this.

New Orleans artists must have gone through a different kind of psychic trauma And this leads me to wonder if artists, poets, musicians and other creative sorts should prepare with emergency kits much different than things than those that are thought of more than essential survival gear.   

So as my life has come to one of those moments of synchronicity and I'm in "Be Prepared" mode my big question is how does an artist prepare - and by that I mean how may an artist's preparations be different from how a mom, or a lawyer, or a bank teller prepares?

To prepare for a tornado, hurricane, flood or worse I've stashed:

• trash bags,
• baby wipes,
• water,
• preserved food,
• battery powered lantern,
• a radio
• and extra batteries in my waterproof container.

And I suppose nearly everyone in Washington has a "grab and go" bag with pocket knife, needle and thread, shampoo, underwear, socks & extra prescription meds.

But I can't help wondering if poets and musicians and artists need intangible things more than essential survival gear.

I'm not suggesting stocking tubes of paint in place of water, but I am wondering if I would cease to feel and react like an artist if I became an evacuee.

If I were sitting in a Red Cross shelter in West Virginia somewhere what would I want with me to soothe the muse?

Laptops may not make it on the list of "essentials," but surely a digital camera plus some colored pens and pencils with a small sketchbook could make the cut. And, in theory at least, I'd gladly substitute a digital music player for an extra pair of socks.

That's in theory though; and may be just nuts. I could be just as stunned as I was after the pentagon attack and incapable of having a creative thought. I didn't need art supplies then. The only word I have to describe the feeling is "frozen."

Wondering what other people could add to the discussion I Googled "creative people" and "emergency" and I found a fascinating paper on creativity in people involved  with emergency response. The Arts in a Time of Crisis was a very interesting read as well, but not what I was looking for.

As far as the more common emergency needs go, the links and websites listed below can give us food for thought. But for the creative soul they offer little input.

And it occurs to me that it's a subject that deserves consideration.

As a writer or artist, a poet or musician - what would you find helpful if you were plucked away from home without warning?

Additional Resources:

• Wikipedia: Self Rescue

• Emergency Supplies Checklist

• Earthquake Comfort Kit

• Red Cross: Build a Kit / Checklist