I’m having flashbacks to my old TV news anchor days.

If I were still working in the newsroom, the earthquake in Haiti would have been the center of my world for as long as it was a big story.  I’m glad I’m no longer required to immerse myself in tragedy. These days,  I get the information I need, take what appropriate action I can, and then I put my focus elsewhere. 

When the earthquake hit, we donated to Wyclef Jean ’s nonprofit Yele Haiti  because we have given in the past. We were introduced to Yele by Cameron Sinclair  (founder of Architecture for Humanity , TED Prize  winner) who is involved personally with Wyclef’s work.

Also, the TED Blog recommends Partners In Health  as a trusted nonprofit partner in Haiti. 

I notice that taking positive, conscious action, then shifting of focus to other things, has kept me from feeling the deep sadness I used to experience when I was a reporter whose life revolved around the details of devastation. Not that I’m not feeling sadness and sympathy, but I’m able to experience my own life without being overwhelmed by grief.

Still, there’s nothing like a disaster of epic proportion to put one’s own circumstances in perspective.

It reminds me that any moment could bring a literal or figurative earthquake.  I am mindful of the suffering of others. And most of all,  I am mindful of the magnitude of my gratitude in this moment.

Confession: Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling Eat Pray Love did not engender a desire to befriend the author. When I saw she would be presenting at TED, I thought it was the one talk I’d be willing to miss. Good thing I don’t always listen to myself.  Her talk was a true highlight, and you can see it for yourself because it’s already up on the TED website.

You should see it if you are a creative person. Gilbert’s talk underscores one of my big life lessons. For years, I’ve been telling my clients that they need not feel bad or beat themselves up if they can’t get it together to write that book, start that company, or produce whatever creative output they feel they “should.”  I’ve learned that ideas come to more than one person at a time, demanding life. If you can’t get the idea out there, don’t worry – it’s nagging someone else, too.  Somebody will do it. You’re not the only one the idea is pestering.

So the pressure’s off. If an idea’s time has come, the idea will find at least one, and possibly many, humans through which to be born. You don’t have to do it – you’re off the hook. (Don’t say you weren’t warned, though. How will you feel when you see “your” idea with someone else’s name on it?)

And the pressure’s off me, too. I don’t have to translate that entire pad full of TED notes for you. Ethan Zuckerman’s contemporaneous notes are already published. The TED Blog and other bloggers and Tweeters (Laurel Touby’s were among my faves – disclosure, I love her) did a fantastic job of sharing the experience live.

There is one thing all those others can’t do: be me. Same for you. So if you ever do get around to following through with that idea, the expression of it will be uniquely yours. What is the one step you can take to move it forward today?