September 11
22 years have passed since September 11, 2001, but for many of us the horror of that day still feels fresh. Gaining a better understanding of both the causes and the impacts of the deadly attacks can be helpful in managing any lingering fear or grief we feel. For younger generations, learning about what happened offers critical perspective. This link has 10 books about the events surrounding 9/11, from varying perspectives.
Some of my own thoughts about at this tragic day 22 years ago here—-> V’s Podcast
I know my own knowledge about the “Middle East” and “Near East” is lacking. So I offer some links to help learn more. Aside from Europe and the Roman Empire, I have VERY little understanding about most other countries around the world. Even professors of history (her/his-story) admit their students who graduate have limited understanding of the world. I think our education - good as it may be- leaves us with little knowledge of the outside, and we can afford to ignore most things because we have not been touched personally by most of it. But sometimes it feels good to open ourselves to listen when we can- especially realizing our actions DO affect others around the world.
And isn’t it healthy to ask, “What did I do to offend you?”. Or to think about what can we do to prevent these tragedies? What do other people in the world think of us, and why? (when we travel, do we want to be naive walking targets? or perhaps, more sensitive to a larger narrative).
Some unexpected consequences of the attacks:
Arab American women, who were pregnant at the time, experienced more birth problems (babies with low birth weight, preterm, and more likely defined as high risk for future health problems).
brings up the topic of intergenerational trauma (and this always makes me wonder if WE can be the generation that cuts the line of trauma?!)
Wages for Arab Americans declined after 9/11
Reduced transactions with Arab American businesses
I always love to encourage people to look their own her-stories too. Nothing can change if nobody looks internally. And find people to talk about these stories with. Learning our past (individually, or collectively as a species), can be incredibly grounding, but also possibly triggering, so always nice to have trusted people to talk with about it.
Knowing a lot about just our parents was a huge indicator of adult success and mental health, and I think understanding our familial and ancestral past can be even more enlightening!
My mom was born in Croatia, in a war torn country up until the 1990’s. I wanted to dive in to understand how deep our own family’s inter-generational trauma want, and WHOA. I had a lot in store to learn about. I eventually was lead into a story about the silk roads, and found an amazing book linked below that brought out a different perspective on the middle/far east I had never thought about.
Great Teachers
Wayne Dyer, a wonderful motivational speaker, now passed away, was asked to appear on the television because of his book, published the same morning of 9/11, about a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem. Some thoughts of his I wanted to share:
• Have compassion and to create no enemies
• Every single one of us has some connections through invisible links
• You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it.
• With our thoughts, we have created a world which sometimes doesn't seem to work.
• We sometimes have to change our thoughts.
• Native Americans phrase: “no tree has branches so foolish as to fight among themselves”
• You ALWAYS have access to these higher energies. They are always just a thought away.
Resources:
• 10 Powerful Nonfiction Books About 9/11: from all different perspectives, more focused on modern times
• Peter Santenello videos, learning about other cultures and perspectives
• Tribe: really short 3 hour book on the isolation we afford, but to our detriment. Encourages us to find community
• Silk Roads: Long book on world his-story from a different perspective than one I grew up with
• Wayne Dyer: A Spiritual Solution to Every Problem
