w e l l ~ B L O G ~ t o ~ y o u ~ t o o !

11 September 2002
 
Well, it's a bright and beautiful day here. I didn't start out that way. It was misty and beautiful then. Not too hot. Not too cold. Wonderful. Perfect. It's a day where you want to just run outside and twirl around and sing The Hills are alive... With the sound of Music. But if you do, you're unpatriotic or callous or unremembering of a terrible tragedy. Well, we have picnics on Memorial Day. Family gatherings and whatnot, so why not today? Why can't we be happy and joyful today? Why must it be all gloomy misery. Why can't we celebrate life? Because, well, we're living. And you know what? The sky hasn't fallen. We haven't yet descended into and unprovoked attack on another country (despite the greatest tryings of our leaders). Are we, as a nation, that much worse off? Did Al Quaeda distroy our country? No. We're living. We're breathing. Babies have been born, and people have gotten married (not necessarily in that order).

There are some places where they treat death as a celebration. As a moving on. That you're not supposed to be sad. At least not for the person who died. And not being sad does not mean that you do not miss them. Irish wakes. They are celebrations. Parties. Times to remember the happy things about the deceased. The point of remembering is not to make yourself depressed with misery. The point is to remember the good. The love that the deceased spread. And there was not one person who died a year ago today who did not give love to at least another human being. There was not a single person who was not loved in return. And they should be remembered as said happy loving people--not statistics, another number in many, another name in a litany of so many that the names become pointless.

There was a reason why the aftermath was so inconceivable. The toll was just too many for our social packs. And the people stopped being individuals and were just beings and names clumped together in a big conglomerate. If you are or know someone who lost a loved one--well then it has a lot more meaning for you. But the rest of us, are we truly remembering the lives of the people who had died, or are we wallowing in a self inflicted pity-wound we are not allowing to heal? I know it sounds harsh. But the way I see it, the only way to truly remember what happened and remember America "before" is to celebrate the things we all did "before" and took for granted "before". Going outside on a day like today and twirling around while the sun is on your shoulders and the wind is in your hair. Laughing. Reading a book. Celebrating our leisure time. We cannot wallow in our wounds and keep reopening our scars. That is not the way to heal. And if you want to know what would happen if we neglect our healing, and keep picking our scabs, you only have to look to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. People there are not allowed to heal. They are constantly reminded of things done to them. People are brought to graveyards of young men and women and told "look what the Palestinians did to them" or "look what the Israelis did to us".

We're supposed to be a progressive country, so let's stop wallowing in our victimhood. Let's have a day where we be happy. That would be the ultimate defeat of the Terrorists. Like the Grinch who tried to steal Christmas. The Whos didn't care about the decorations and such. They celebrated anyway in their torn and disheveled little Whoville. America is not just a territory on a map. It's a way of being, it's a place of ideals--and they can't destroy what is in our hearts--not unless we let them.

Oh, and if you see people celebrating a birthday today--don't get hard on them. It's their birthday! Let them have a happy birthday. It's how birthdays are supposed to be. People don't ask to be born on a certain day, so don't get all hateful on them if they want to celebrate. Because I'm sure enough other tragedies have happened in the history of the world that your birthday is also covered in that.

All right, getting off my soap box for the day. And oh, FYI, I'm not watching any of the smaltzy "rememberance" stuff on TV today. The wind is blowing. Perhaps I shall fly my new kite.

Liz the Mischievous renovated @ 18:22