NEW ORLEANS – It was Herb Carver’s first time being the victim of a major catastrophic event, and the irony of the situation was not lost to him. At the end of August 2005, Carver, along with many others living along the Gulf Coast of the United States had his life changed forever by Hurricane Katrina.
The storm, one of the fiercest hurricanes to make U.S. landfall in recent history, reformed the landscape of many lives. For Carver, the devastation and turmoil would inspire a journey with mindfulness culminating in inner peace and profound self-awareness.
“The moment I realized the impact mindfulness was having on me, and could also have on others wanting to improve their lives both personally and in business, I thought back to Hurricane Katrina,” said Carver. “The feeling of burning out on life that one has during time of a disaster is not unlike the feeling struggling entrepreneurs or business leaders have when experiencing a slump.”
Carver had relocated to New Orleans six years before the storm, following a career path that ironically included a promotion to the home office of a catastrophe services company. With a Masters Degree in Risk Management, Carver was well versed in the figures and statistics of disasters but as he soon came to realize, he was not in tune with the personal impact that such disasters can have. “It was a job and an industry that I thought I thoroughly understood, until I lost my own home to a disaster,” Carver said.
Carver and his family lost everything on Aug. 29, 2005. “Even the few things we tried to save, we ended up discarding due to mold and potentially contaminated water,” said Carver. “I know that it was just stuff, but it was my stuff and now it was gone.”
Like many New Orleans and Gulf Coast residents, Carver said the storm dramatically changed his life. He evacuated from New Orleans and spent a year or so living in a Holiday Inn and an RV park.
“It was exhausting, but there was so much work to be done that I couldn’t focus enough to get myself out of the situation,” Carver said. “I’m a survivor and I thought, ‘I’ll manage.’ I just kept going not realizing how much I had lost.”
A direct result of the storm, Carver threw himself into his work, attempting to ignore the more personal issues. “I had a job, a source of income, and a lot of work to do – and I really thought I was only as valuable as what I did for a living,” said Carver.
The bigger realization was that neither working harder nor replacing objects could fix what Carver actually felt was missing in his life.
“It’s a bit hollow sounding, looking back now, but I was putting emphasis in the wrong place, focusing on external factors like houses, cars and income and not on my own state of mind,” he explained.
After all the hard work and strife putting the pieces back together, Carver finally had a sense of normalcy. That is, until it all happened again. In 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast and for the second time in less than 3 years Carver found himself face-to-face with disaster. “It felt like everything that I had done to get us back to square one was all for nothing.”
Once again, Carver went to work and avoided a growing sense that things weren’t quite right in his life. After recovering from Ike, Carver returned to Louisiana in 2011. “I had done my best to forget the storms. They were over now and life was moving on,” he said. When he began to hear about the threat of Hurricane Isaac in 2012, Carver began reliving the prior losses.
“It was difficult not to envision everything being damaged again,” he said. “I knew it wasn’t rational but I was an emotional wreck. My friends didn’t appear to have the same issues. ‘I’m over it, why aren’t you’ is all I envisioned them saying. When I finally admitted I was having troubles, everything began to change.” Carver got the push to begin his journey to find his real purpose when a friend suggested he go on a mindfulness retreat, an experience that changed his life forever.
“Learning how to live mindfully broke the cycle,” Carver said. “It saved me from personal depression, got me past catastrophes like Katrina and Ike, and better prepared me for other challenges in my life.”
Carver explains mindfulness as a quality of awareness based on recognizing exactly what is happening in our moment-to-moment experience without judging or managing it. “It’s all being present,” he said. “It makes you more aware of detail, context and perspective. It’s the cornerstone of engagement – and it begins when we stop trying to control every aspect of our lives.”
We all want stability, Carver explained. After a catastrophe this is even greater – people want to be in control. “The world around us is constantly changing, and holding on tighter only results in a greater loss of control,” Carver said. “We can’t change the losses we experience, but we can reclaim ourselves.”
The growing popularity of practicing mindfulness is difficult to ignore. Schools, law firms, banks and the U.S. military all offer mindfulness sessions to staff. TV personalities Anderson Cooper and Dan Harris are proponents of the practice; and athletes such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant use mindfulness to improve performance.
The practice of mindfulness transformed Carver’s life and career positively, helping him get through disasters like Katrina and come out on top. Now he hopes to impart his knowledge of the practice to other business leaders and individuals.
“So many business leaders are left feeling disillusioned after disasters like Katrina and end up betraying a great business,” said Carver. “When one lives every day mindfully, not only is anxiety reduced and productivity increased, but when a crisis arises, we are able to deal with them optimistically and successfully.”
Carver never imagined he would be a victim of Hurricane Katrina, but his displacement played a role that led him to his journey with mindfulness today. Through his new business venture, Carver hopes to help local businesses small and large overcome challenges through the same methods he has found successful.
Carver still lives in the New Orleans area. He offers professional coaching and leadership development services to top managers, executives and entrepreneurs through leadership and mindfulness skills to help them experience significant increases in strategic focus, resilience and performance. Carver offers his services in person or via online video chats.
Through Point Above Consulting, LLC, Carver hopes to help businesses and individuals overcome obstacles through mindfulness just as he has.
