Thank Goodness It's Monday #321

 SHARING A LIFE LESSON FROM 9/11

Did the world change a decade ago on September 11, 2001?

Yes – but …

Even a decade (plus a day if you’re here on Monday) later, I can’t adequately explain it, not even to myself.

And, no offense, but you can’t fully and convincingly explain it to me, either.

Still, of this I am certain: While we all share the experience and/or its aftermath in our collective psyche, no one version of it aligns directly with any other.

That’s the oddity of our human experience.

Granted, to most of our minds the events of 9/11 are without precedent, at least in the modern age.

from Remembering 9/11
Photographs and Words
by Martha Cooper
ISBN: 978-1-9356130-9-1

But, at the decade mark, has any event been remembered … commemorated … analyzed … dissected … memorialized … venerated and lamented as this one has?

The sheer quantity of public “cultural” endeavors centered on this anniversary is staggering as is their tone and substance. They range from political posturing to argument, sentimentality, reflection, criticism, pride, patriotism, anger, sadness, mourning ….

Pick your state and any combination of feelings.

No doubt about it: The evolved technology of these earliest days of the 21^st Century presented the opportunity for literally millions to communicate the images and sounds of the experience as well as their impressions, memories and biases with, well, anyone with a digital connection.

So how has all this changed things? What I thought and felt a decade ago has evolved. And it continues to. As it should.  For me; and, I think, for you.

What 9/11 means to me, and the thinking and behavior that’s come about over 3650+ days that have passed since the day’s events, is certainly informed by what others experienced and have shared.

But still, any one individual’s experience is not the same as any other’s. 

It’s the parallax view. Parallax is an apparent displacement or difference in the position of an object viewed from along different lines of sight.

Parallax illustration
from Wikipedia

So, for example, the driver of a car sees something slightly different from the person riding in the passenger seat. (And in the days when car speedometers had a rising “needle” to indicate accelerating speed, the difference between the driver’s eye and passenger parallax view would invariably lead to cautionary comments to “Watch how fast you’re going!”)

And so it goes with “viewers” of 9/11. No matter what, our views are slightly different. Because I was not and am not now standing where you were/are standing, our views won’t align exactly. No matter what, our views are slightly different.

Of course, we may “share” our thinking. So your perception of the experience – 9/11 or any experience-in-common – might be influenced by mine as mine might be by yours. But even then, the outcome is still uniquely – and rightly – individual.

So I wonder if all the ambiguous and ambivalent “looking back” that’s has been and will be going on around this anniversary date is adding significantly to the collective wisdom?

And since “coverage” seems somewhat unavoidable, I wonder if it’s of any value to comment on it.

Or is the correct thing to do, especially for those of us who are of an age and in such a proximate location to the World Trade site to be more deeply involved, to remain observers only?

TGIM ACTION IDEA: My decision has been to write this blog and share it with you.

Why? Because, as I continually maintain:

Writing focuses your thinking. And I find focused thinking is beneficial to the process of coping, learning and understanding.

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: If the info and opinion and reminiscence overload of this year’s commemoration of 9/11 has you feeling ambiguous and ambivalent, perhaps ‘writing your thoughts down” can be cathartic and useful for you, too.

And in the process perhaps we – each and all – will begin to better understand the “Why?” of our 9/11 feelings.

• Asking, “Why?”
• Trying to focus my thinking.
• Seeking wisdom and understanding.

 And hoping you’re able to successfully do the same.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com   

P.S.  “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.” These are among the closing words in A Long Walk To Freedom, the 1994 autobiography of Nelson Mandela.

And he continues, evoking the message of Dr. Martin Luther King: “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come.”

Finally the Nobel Peace Prize winner concludes – as befits the commemoration of an event on the scale of 9/11: “But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.”

For more on Martha Cooper's book, connect to Amazon Remembering 9/11 or Mark Batty Publisher.

For more on Nelson Mandela's autobiography, connect to Amazon Long Walk to Freedom: With Connections (HRW Library)