Eyjafjallajoekull

Take a second to imagine shifting tectonic plate activity which triggered volcanic action that split a glacier. Yes, a glacier. Check out the photos.

In this case, fire and flood operated hand in hand in driving people from their homes. And then there was the rising ash which has grounded flights in areas where ash is detected in the atmosphere (including the UK) from 12.00 noon on Thursday 15 April through Tuesday, 20 April at 1.00am – but that was a changing estimate for days. The ash apparently turns to glass in a planes’ engines. Even in places where it is safe to fly, the planes aren’t necessarily in the right place… We have friends stranded in Portugal and I had two handfuls of colleagues stranded after a business trip; over 230 people were scheduled to be at the meeting we hosted in Turkey.

For just a moment I am completely overwhelmed at the way I take my existence for granted. I live on rock that’s on fire – which is being hurled through space at a speed that I can’t begin to imagine, covering a distance that is infinitesimally small in the scope of the everything that exists though it is farther than I can conceive. I am affected by the realisation that I am vulnerable in way that I don’t usually consider.

And we in the business world need to get really good at holding virtual meetings. Seriously.