Verified by 
On a recent flight out of Reagan National Airport, the flight attendant made general announcements regarding rules and regulations as the aircraft prepared for takeoff; she also made a reference to the events of 9/11, reminding us that we should know why such rules are necessary. After all, they were spawned by the events that we would be "celebrating" in the coming week. Yes. She referred to the upcoming ten-year anniversary of that horrific day as a celebration. It was a slip of the tongue no doubt, but one that nonetheless left my travel companion and I wide-eyed and confused.
This seeming slip, and the many references to the pending ten-year mark, left me wondering. Have we, as Americans, been able to make any sense of that senseless day? A month before September 11, 2001, I moved from Maryland to Manhattan to start graduate school. I, undoubtedly like many New Yorkers, have always felt a particular pang at the mention of that day. In fact, I even devoted part of my graduate studies on researching this event (Can memories of 9/11 alter foreign decision-making policies?).
The day brings up many feelings: I have felt resentment toward those who mention that day in an aim to achieve political or other gains. I also felt ambivalence, wavering with disbelief, when tourists (with maps and cameras in hand) ask for directions to Ground Zero, along with any other New York "Must See" attraction like Central Park or Times Square.
The term itself has become loaded ever since the Bush administration. The mere mention of the date conjures up personal accounts for each American. Reactions range from horror and disbelief to exhaustion and desensitization. At worst, 9/11 has been used as a captivating rhetorical device to justify questionable foreign policy decisions; and it has even been used as a punch line in low brow humor, think Family Guy. Ironically, the cartoon's creator Seth McFarlane was nearly a passenger on the first plane that hit the towers (see adweek.com). His show has reportedly made multiple 9/11 jokes over the years, mostly at Bush's expense, but others are more general and about the tragedy itself. Perhaps dark humor serves as some sort of catharsis for the creator, questionable as that may seem.
There are no answers in my post on this day. Rather, I wanted to create an open space for reflection. Oftentimes, when searching for meaning in one's experiences one must be detached somewhat from the experience itself. Perhaps that is why as time passes it often enables one to gain perspective and to see events in a new light. And that, perhaps, is one of the many loaded complications that emerges for most Americans when trying to reflect on September 11th. How do we detach from an event so cataclysmic, so part of the collective consciousness and cultural experience? It is so personal and yet connected to others in so many ways.
Today, one cannot board a plane in this country without the shadow of that tragedy, even if it is beneath one's immediate consciousness. As the ten-year mark nears, how do we convey meaning, pay tribute, and remember those who perished, without falling back on contrivance? And how do we separate the memory of that day from the resulting media coverage? Is it even possible to detach, to revisit the events as if for the first time, with an untainted perspective?
Alas, I do not know if there are right answers or even a single response to any of these questions. I do remember. I do want to reflect. I do offer my deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones that day, to first responders who suffered health complications, to the endless ways that the world has changed in the aftermath, both for better and worse. If you are able to join me for such a reflection, please post a comment and join the dialogue. Perhaps there is no meaning, no greater truth to be gained from reflection, other than acknowledging the horror and emptiness that accompanies such barbaric acts of violence. Perhaps the best way to pay our respects is to practice compassion and cultivate a stronger intention for peace within ourselves, so that such acts of violence do not define us.
Join leading spiritual teachers to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11 through cultivation of kindness and other such reflections at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, DC. For more information on a weekend dedicated to awakening to peace, compassion, and forgiveness, Go to: www.buddhafest.org
Copyright 2011 Azadeh Aalai
