Can We Rise from the Ashes?

September 11 2001 caught me in bed while recovering from surgery. I barely watch the news considering them a not to healthy way to start my day but that morning was different. I vividly remember how my eyes couldn’t believe the images shown. The first plane came as a fatal accident in my mind. Minutes later, when the second one hit, I understood that it wasn’t a mere coincidence but a planned attack. It was then, when tears began to fall in horror, pain, disbelieve, hope, and prayer. Anger took over blending with my physical pain. Even though I wasn’t literally born in this country, in many ways I have always belonged to it. It wasn’t about the country but about the people, the suffering, and the feelings of hatred against what this country represents.

As the days went by, I felt relieved witnessing how, maybe for the first time, the whole country was united; no race, religion, or beliefs distinctions. Everyone was holding hands, working and grieving together as one. It is sad that tragedy needs to hit us for us to realize that we are all interconnected, that we belong to each other. Miracles unveiled. Heroes emerged. From the ashes and tears we rose again. At least that’s what I thought. As a response, with all the power of vengeance, we slashed a ferocious war against our “enemies”, thousands of lives have been lost, our economy is crumbling, and our citizens are suffering like never before. Today, ten years after the darkest day in American history, we are facing the same threats. Even worst, those threats are not only coming from foreign countries but from our own.

At the risk of being criticize, today I sit here totally disconcerted. What I thought would be an opportunity to heal and change our beliefs, has turned into venues to create more division, a false sense of individualism, increased rage, and inability to come to terms with the reality that violence could only lead to more violence. For ten long years we have been walking in circles, like the wolves when chasing their prey. Since 2001, we have been dealing with our own feelings of despair and hatred, not realizing that when those feeling are created, waves of energy expand them beyond our physical body touching everything and everyone, replicating and increasing the same kind of feelings.

September 11th changed our lives. We have been living on a high alert mode since then; a cruise control of caution, distrust, fear, prejudice, and a growing misunderstanding of foreign beliefs. What I hoped would be the coming together of humanity has turned into a deeper fault dividing us. Call me an idealist, even an ignorant living in fairy land. Truth is, like all of you, I suffered the tragedy, cried and felt the lost of thousands of innocent people, experienced the consequences, and have seen the results of extremist fanatism. Still, I strongly believe that we have missed a wonderful opportunity to heal our wounds and come to terms with life itself. Yes, we will always remember. However, I am sure those lives lost would feel honored by witnessing our transformation as, not an alienated nation, but as a world united. After all, in life there are some events we can’t control, things we can’t change. Maybe, that tragic day was the sign we needed to raise our consciousness, accept our vulnerability, and become a true example for the rest of the world. Unfortunately, I think we missed it, we are still blinded, and now we are paying the consequences. The good news is that there is always time to make it right before we run out of it and this is our time