Anniversary of 9/11/01 -- Is it really 8 years?

Hijacked airplanes 8 years ago set in motion a set of losses that many feel are still unresolved.  The nation, and many of us as individuals, still face a mourning process.   The subsequent years following the attacks produced a number of unforeseen consequences that still plague the nation. And actually many of the losses occurred after that singular day.  For example, a number of New York's firefighters died prematurely because of exposure to toxins at Ground Zero.  The two wars in the Middle East are still taking an awful toll on military and civilians alike.

For us as individuals, the grief work to process losses is highly personal, depending on the nature of our involvement in the actual events of 9/11. For us collectively, losses include the lives of thousands of people, our sense of geographical invulnerability, trust in the government --specifically the intelligence and military communities-- to keep us safe, and finally a great deal of the national "treasure."

In order to process loss we must go through certain stages of predominant feelings arising from grief.  Classic theory lists shock, denial, anger, bargaining, confusion, sadness and finally acceptance and moving on.  And an argument can be made that the country must pass through those same stages in order to heal.  We are not there yet.  And that is because we have experienced so many losses as citizens and groups along the way that we continue to cycle back through the grief stages with each new major loss.  And here we are left with unresolved losses that plague us.

Anniversaries associated with loss inevitably bring up other unresolved grief issues in each of us.  For me it is primarily the loss of my mom just prior to last Christmas.  But we also suffered losses as citizens: thousands of members of the military and civilians have given their lives these last 8 years.  As citizens we are enduring the loss of privacy and civil liberties protection,  the loss of billions of tax dollars, a recalcitrant recession, the loss of old alliances with other nations, and also the loss of bipartisanship within our own political system.

On this day, September 11, 2009, Democrats have yet to let go of certain losses and move on.  Those might include: the loss of the 2004 election, the loss of a budget surplus, and the loss of a predictable "loyal opposition."  Republicans have yet to let go of the loss of the 2006 and 2008 elections, the loss of their moderate wing, and the loss of control of Congress and the administration.  Democrats are in the bargaining stage regarding bipartisanship, and the denial stage regarding the budget and civil liberties.  In some ways Congressional leaders still seem to be in shock that  Democrats have the majority and the White House.  And now they mourn the loss of Senator Kennedy. Republicans are now stuck with recycling through denial and anger, with no wish to bargain with the opposition.  I see no signs of sadness and moving on to acceptance for any of them. except the almost entirely absent Moderates now trying to rebuild their lives .

What does this thesis have to do with 9/11?  The nation is in denial about Afghanistan, though that is changing.  The country is angry with Wall Street, who let us down, but not yet willing to get out of denial and pass new regulations or restore a fair tax level for the wealthiest citizens.  And leaders are confused about adhering to the rule of law and enforcing accountability for wrong doing.  We lost a lot these 8 years and we have not yet recovered.  But we all need to feel the sadness, get into acceptance, let go and move on.  It is the only path to national health.

 

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