Always Remember

Obviously the situation in Japan right now isn't news really to anyone. The devestation is enormous and worse yet, the catastrophe is ongoing. Crisis at the reactors, powerful aftershocks and the threat of another earthquake looming is all still present. I've been constantly following it since last Friday because I do have friends there, some of my favourite artists are from there and it's a place I've wanted to visit for years. But all that aside people are suffering and they've lost so much, and I'll be honest it bothers me that people here seem to have no reaction to it. Their lives go on while the deathtoll somewhere else rises. It's not to say we should completely stop our lives and mourn but people seem to have a certain detached sympathy when it comes to tragedies around the world away from us. We should never forget any tragedy that happens anywhere, and we should try and do all we can to help even if it's only a little thing. We should move past our old habit of only caring for our own and open ourselves up to helping each other. We're all on this planet together. I don't buy into the notion of 'I can't do anything'. Even just spreading information for donating is doing something - every person had the potential to spread the information to someone who could use it. Not even a day after the quake GACKT blogged and announced he was starting a charity called Show Your Heart to help with relief efforts. In the time between then and now he's not only started the charity, established a charity account with the help of NHN Japan (an online game and internet company who worked with him on DRAGONEST), raised 101,100,893円 ($1.25 million US) and gathered a list of support from fellow Asian artists. He's not the only one - various idol groups and talent agencies have also donated substantial amounts of money for relief efforts, and many Japanese artists have turned their personal twitter accounts into information sources and constant well-wishes. It's really admirable how the whole country is coming together.

So what am I doing, you might be wondering. I started a charity effort awhile ago called A Dream We Chase which right now I'm tring to get the word about and drum up support so I can support various charity efforts any way I can. Right now, obviously, we're aiming to help support Show Your Heart. I've linked up my ArtFire store which has several bracelets for charity efforts and most specifically this one - My Heart for Japan. I'm also looking to do online auctions in the near future and aid and donations are always welcome there :) I also gave a small hand to Dog Bless You who are sending search and rescue dogs to Japan to help find survivors. And lastly, a list of links I hope people will check out, pass on and contribute to:

Japan Earthquake Animal Relief
Animal Refuge Kansai
Animal Miracle Foundation Network
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies