The good thing about losing power
Photo by Esther Ramirez
It has been a summer of searing images – some of triumph (at the Women’s World Cup) and some of tragedy (El Paso and Dayton). Yet for me one of the most memorable scenes of the summer was the lights going out on Broadway. The massive NYC power outage that occurred on July 13 darkened the lights of midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side, creating eerie images of the city that never sleeps suddenly being unplugged.
But those weren’t the images from that day that have stuck with me.
Within an hour of the power going out, New Yorkers (and countless summer tourists) started posting images of a city sharing a moment – an unexpected, almost exhilarating one. Everyone was in the dark, regardless of age, race, class or style preference, and while tempers (and temperatures) might have run high, so did teamwork. The images and videos relayed a sense of being 'in it together' – of being one big tribe in a moment of unexpected adversity.
And unexpected joy too.
The most inspiring videos of the day were those of the Broadway casts (ever loyal to the notion that the show must go on) who delighted the patiently waiting audiences by wading into the crowd to perform their songs acapella – creating the sense of a good old fashioned sing along. Restaurants, realizing that the masses were still hungry, set up sidewalk tables that created a sense of communal sharing.
Although the situation was far from ideal, it appeared that while NYC had lost power, all was not lost. In fact, something might have been found: a sense of shared perseverance and purpose, and perhaps even a reminder of common humanity.
I have thought a lot about that power outage this summer, because it was a reminder to me that sometimes losing power is the best way to gain perspective. So many of us define ourselves by our title and our roles, the number of people we have reporting to us or the number of zeroes behind our books of business. Others of us define our power by the number of followers we have or the influence we create with the words we say and the pictures we post.
But just like everything, power is ephemeral and it can disappear, just as easy as it arrives. Possessing it can distract us from the very real things that fuel us – shared moments of creativity and compassion, and of passion and perspective. When the flames of our external power goes out, it sometimes prompts us to pay more attention to our inner sparks of purpose, knowledge and wonder, as well as the luminous people around us.
Yes, sometimes a loss of power can disorient us. But the key is to learn that this feeling might create the very best moment to renew our sense of self – unencumbered by the flashing lights and the blaring sounds. In the stillness of the darkness, we can once again see the light.
Following the blackout in July, NYC officials determined that a faulty relay system caused the outage. A relay system detects electrical faults and directs circuit breakers to isolate and de-energize those faults. In other words, the back-up systems designed to keep the power on seemingly didn’t work.
But maybe, more importantly, a different system actually DID work. For a few hours, the power went out and the humanity went on. In that sense, perhaps the blackout wasn’t so much as faulty system, but a reminder of our our own faults. Perhaps it was a sign for us to all remember that we are the sources of our own power and have the ability to create our own optimistic energy... together.
Because when the power goes out, regardless of whether you are on Broadway or not, the show must go on.
Questions for further self-reflection:
What are some of the things that give you power?
What powers do you admire in other people, and why?
How do you share your power with others around you, and why?
If your power went out, how would you turn it back on? Who would help you turn it back on?
Additional readings on power and community dynamics: