Devastation?

I think I will use the word devastated with less frequency. To say that one is devastated is a huge term. I'm understanding more the error of misuse that we have adopted for this term by viewing real devastation. Television camera and even artistic photographers can not do justice to the pure devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina. In the past 48 hours I taken 60 minutes worth of video and over 200 pictures, and in reviewing them...it falls far short of the pure intensity of the amzingly decrepit situation. A stench so foul that it literally takes your breath away. A land so wrought with disaster that it overwhelms you, and you find yourself sitting and wondering where to start. I urge anyone who thinks their situation is bad to experience this wasteland. Does life have devastating moments...I'm sure it does, but we need to more carefully choose the times that we define as devastating. Losing a job is a mere inconvenience compared to rebuilding life from the ground up. These images will forever be burned into my psyche when I leave, and be a constant reminder that my life...is blessed, not devastated.