New York City
I’m headed to New York on a red-eye this coming Friday night and will be there until early Sunday morning. A very good friend of mine is getting married Saturday evening, and it will be refreshing to see friends and have a bit of a vacation, however short and sleep-deprived it may be.
It will be my first time in the city since 2001 and I hope to have enough down-time on Saturday morning to take the subway to Ground Zero. My wife and I were last there in late August 2001 and decided not to visit the World Trade Center because of time constraints. It should be an interesting trip for me and I hope to have enough time to visit the site and to stick around to reflect for a bit.
In thinking about the events leading up to and following September 11, I find that I still get bogged down into a very “heavy” mood, even after so much time has passed. It’s more of a deep pensiveness then anything else, but a fairly unique feeling for me. What keeps flipping around in my mind is the fact that life managed to pick itself up and move on, something that at the time, even in my safe and sunny California office that morning, didn’t seem probable or fair to even consider.
I think it is a strong show of the resilience of the human spirit, but also perhaps of the transient nature of life. Does knowing that there is an “end” make successfully dealing with horrendous tragedy slightly more probable? Is our ability to heal and move on (even partially) a strength or a weakness of humankind? Does it mean that we are selfish and cold, or more intelligent and emotionally secure?
In reflecting on the above questions, I thought I might quote the Mayor of London. Part of his response to the London subway bombings that occurred on July 7, 2005 follows:
“Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.
“I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others - that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.
“In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfill their dreams and achieve their potential.
“They choose to come to London, as so many have come before, because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don’t want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.”
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