Ground Zero Choice Point
When the towers came down, like everyone, I wept and grieved, but for me, it felt so personal.
The attack happened in my own hometown. As I watched the story unfold, something emerged inside of me, it was like a steel rod had formed along my spine, and NYC was a magnet that pulled me forward. I couldn’t … not … go.
With the VW Passat packed, and my two young children home safe with their dad, I hopped in the car and left Mebane, North Carolina behind me and just started driving, determined to make it to Manhattan by nightfall. For the first time ever, there was no traffic and I was able to cross the George Washington Bridge and head straight to 42nd Street and the Marriott Times Square Hotel. It just felt right to be there.
A Walk to Ground Zero
As the sun rose the next day, I put on my walking shoes and headed to Ground Zero. It felt surreal passing Union Square Park and seeing all of the flyers posted by people trying to find loved ones who went to work in the towers that day and had not come home. The Ground Zero magnet kept pulling me forward. I remember looking into a shoe store and being chilled by the site of high heeled shoes covered by an inch of World Trade Center dust and debris that must have slipped through the crack at the bottom of the door. I remember wondering to myself, how that could be? And, why was no one stopping me from continuing my walk? Where were blockades? Why did I feel such a pull to be here, and what was I going to find?
I kept walking until the scene before me stopped me in my tracks. Ahead were the structural remains of the towers, two steel beam sections formed a V like structure that appeared to me like arms stretched upwards. As I looked at the ruins through the tears that streamed down my cheeks, a vision emerged.
These remains represented two clear paths forward for humanity and Ground Zero was the birthing point. One path fueled by fear which would drive our standard response to such an attack which included hatred, retaliation and perpetual warfare. The other path was fueled by love, and the potential for us to come together and make a different decision. Take a different path. Could we possibly break from our normal response pattern and instead choose to use 9/11 as a catalyst to change? Could we choose a different path and use this point as a call to transform our lives and learn to cultivate compassion, generosity, community and love?
My choice was Love.
That moment launched a personal journey for me, and the next few decades were spent transforming my own life and learning how to love myself, my family, my friends and my community in the best way I could. I learned a lot, but I did not have the courage to share all that I have learned. I’ve kept quiet … until now.
Today we are in the era of COVID 19, and I believe we have another choice point. Will our decisions and actions be fueled by love or fear?
