Repost: September 11, 2011
Today, we as a nation will remember a day 10 years ago. We opened our eyes in fear and awe as we saw airplanes drive themselves through the walls of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Those of us who are old enough to remember that event all know where we were when we learned what was happening. It's unlikely we will ever forget because it felt so surreal. We watched these buildings burn and collapse. We heard the stories of the people who walked away. And of those who did not.
We heard the threats brought forth against us by those who wanted to use terror as an instrument to have their way. Our world changed that day. Some of us became afraid. Some of us ashamed. Some of us wanted our loved ones or our friends back. Some of us wished that the world had not been damaged so.
I had a short bout of many feelings myself. I feared that another attack might come - maybe closer to home. I was ashamed that I didn't feel as intensely as the news said I should. I felt angry and frustrated that "they" had killed people - and that it had hurt the nation as a whole.
It took a year for me to realize how I really felt, I think. I was angry. I was angry at the terrorists who attacked us. I was angry at the politicians who used this event to push their own agendas - those driven by hate, fear, and a desire for control. I was angry at those using the memories of September 11th 2001 as a platform to drive fear, hate, commercialism, control, or whatever else they were still working on pushing us toward.
That day I heard a song called "Pump That Area" by Josea Frank ( http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/09/091106.html ) The video was simple. The lyrics equally simple. But they were meaningful. They were important. "Pump that area but don't give into the hysteria." - a message to all of us that our reactions weren't being thought out. It made me re-examine myself, my own reaction, and the reactions of our nation as a whole.
This was followed a short time later by Yellowcard's "Believe" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq0wkNt7r5g ) - one of the few memorial songs that made me cry and continues to do so to this day. Listening to it now, my eyes tear. Reading the lyrics, my chest burns for a moment every time. The message here is not of hate or fear. It isn't about killing those who killed ours, about war, or about eroding our rights. It didn't even touch on the opposite of these things. It touched only on the events of that day. It made me feel small... but not in a bad way, strangely.
These two pieces of media are the most memorable and powerful things that came of that day, 10 years ago, for me. Every time I listen to them, I think about what happened. How it changed my world. How it made me a stronger person instead of a weaker one, even if it weakened this nation and eroded our rights and personal freedoms.
So do me a favor today. Don't give into hysteria. Don't run for your gun. Don't let those who would control you with fear do so. Take back your world. Start the process of taking back your rights. Heal by showing that you have not been beaten and you will not be controlled by those that would use fear as a weapon. And believe. Believe that there are men who are willing and able to give their lives to save yours. Show them respect and love. Remind them that they are the true strength of our nation. Remember that you are alive. Tell those you love how much they mean to you.
Do not forget what happened. Do not forget those who gave their lives to save those who had been victimized. Do not forget who you were before September 11th 2001. Strive to no longer be controlled by what happened that day. Be a better person - both than those who attacked us, and than you were then. And try to make your life matter. Even if only in some small way.