runlindsayrun

Reflections on an Anniversary

I was doing a lot of thinking yesterday...

It's so strange to me that it's been seven years since September 11. It's our generation's 'man on the moon' moment. Everyone remembers where they were when it happened and how it felt. You know who was huddled around the TV with you, sharing an experience that you all knew was profound - but you didn't fully understand how or why or what it meant.

It's a strange thing. And it's even stranger to me that my daughter will grow up without the 'before and after' that has become a part of our lives. She's being born into a world where we fear terrorism in North America, where heightened security and travel restrictions are starting to feel normal, and where people fear others who don't look like them - because fear has (however unfairly) been given a face.

It makes me really sad. But I also realize that Briony won't know what she missed. This is the only world she'll know - and it will continue to change and be different than it is today.

It also makes me really happy. Because I see that younger people are caring more and more. And they are starting to take action, through protests and petitions and - the most exciting thing, in my opinion - by exercising their right to vote. I'm hopeful that in the next few years, we will start to see this younger generation actually running for office themselves. And their low tolerance level for jargon and bullshit might eventually bring about real change.

The initial fear and shock of September 11 is waning. I'm starting to feel the rumblings, and I like it. We're a generation that wants more. We believe that the world can be a better place than it is today. And we have some of the tools that can help make that happen. We're not afraid to point out the problems that we see or to question what we don't agree with. We value others, and listen to the opinions of people who think differently than we do, because we recognize their unique perspective and understand that every opinion deserves to be respected. I think that's really exciting.

The world is not perfect. But it's a great time to be young and optimistic. Now we just need to figure out all the implications and intricacies of raising a strong daughter who can think for herself (without taking it personally when 'thinking for herself' leads her to answers that we might not have chosen for her).

-

And now, proving my theory that there's either a song or a Seinfeld reference for EVERYTHING... :)

Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their door
And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want

That's why we're waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It's not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

And we're still waiting
Waiting on the world to change

One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

- Waiting on the World to Change (John Mayer)

Labels: Current Events, Music, Stuff I'm Thinking About

posted by Lindsay @ 8:23 AM