Reflections on 9-11 and the human spirit
I have spent much of my day studying art, photos, poems and
reflections related to 9-11 and thinking about what sort of
remembrance would be appropriate for this and two other women's
groups I am involved with maintaining. It is not often that I am at
a loss for words, but in the face of such horrific violence and loss
of human life, grief and suffering, I felt completely overwhelmed
about posting anything worthwhile.
How do I contemplate all this and go about my ordinary life? That
was hard even then... to get up September 12th in upstate NY and
look
out my window at the same nice lawn, have my usual breakfast, my
partner safely across the table from me all as if nothing had
changed, when just a few hours away .... unknown thousands were
dead,
countless thousands more terrorized and fearing the worst for their
loved ones, their world turned upside down. I felt useless.
In the early days after the attacks I felt intense patriotism,
something I'd never really experienced in my life having grown up in
the Vietnam era as a liberal more apt to protest government policy
and burn a flag than to be slapping one on the windshield of my car,
which I did last September, making my own because all the stores
here
in NY were sold out.
I would not be a victim.. WE would not be victims... we were united,
initially as Americans but with time I realized it was not
nationality that united us, it was our humanity. Humanity that
transcends politics, borders, languages. We are all citizens of the
world, of this planet. Human beings. More than words today, as I
reflect on 9-11, I experience profound feeling.
Awe that the human spirit can endure such grievous loss and
suffering
and yet still find hope, still love, still go on and reach out to
others as I have seen in the widows and others who have put their
guts and souls in the public light and shine radiant with the spirit
of their loved ones, that they not be forgotten, so that others who
are isolated in their despair might find hope to go on.
Awe at those who ran up the stairs as thousands evacuated down them,
at those who day after day for so many months sifted through tons of
rubble and debris for the remains and effects of those murdered. As
calculating and murderous as human beings can be, so much greater in
number are those who rise above impending mortal danger and great
pain and choose life, choose love, choose healing, and yes, even
choose forgiveness.
Greater awareness that in one instant beyond our control our lives,
families, workplaces, homes, our very breath can be ripped from us
and so must be experienced to the fullest and cherished one moment
at
a time. Gratitude for the gift of life, for loved ones present among
us and yes those whose presence is felt in spirit and no longer
flesh. Determination to honestly open my heart and thoughts and
cherished memories with those I care about, not to wait for a better
time, better weather, the next traditional gathering...
and determination not to immerse myself in pettiness and bickering,
not to spend the precious time I have in the company of those who
are
more often spiteful than tolerant, more often destructive than
positive influences on my spirit. Online or off... I choose my
battles more carefully, I try to wage peace instead. Life is too
short.