New York Memorial for Peace - Sept 23rd, 2001

Huge credit to Andrew Irving who filmed this historical island event.

The memorial was coordinated by James Falcon

Before commenting on 9/11, I thought I should point out some interesting things. If you look in the background, you can seen me. I appear in the background from time to time wearing my big black hat, mirror sunglasses, and holding my clipboard. What was really shocking was to realize just how long my hair had been! I forgot my pony tail actually grew that long. This event took place on a date that was clear, sunny, warm and beautiful. Whenever I see footage like this, this is the Salt Spring Island that I know. Two weeks after 9/11 happened, I felt compelled to organize a memorial for peace to remember the victims in New York. It was the 1st and biggest local event that I coordinated. Now after 7 years, when I look back, I have no regrets about the Memorial. If I have any regrets, it is that we failed to take such a horrific event that happened in New York and really take a proactive approach to the way we deal with age old disagreements. 9/11 was a opportunity for humanity to give its head a shake and really look at itself. We seem to be trapped in a cycle of violence which is a creature of the human mind and the human condition.

Today I feel as much empathy for the victims of 9/11 as I do for all the victims that led up to 9/11 and all the victims that will follow in this endless cycle of madness. If we have learned anything, it is that we are not learning. If we could break the cycle, humanity would have a different history ahead of it and we could achieve great things never before realized. We could have a healthy planet with a sophisticated civilization upon it of diverse cultures. Most importantly, we have to reach out to the much greater environment that surrounds us, the macro environment. The macro environment is the space that surrounds our planet and the other planets beyond. When I think about the waste of time in energy consumed in the mechanization of war, and how we could alternatively have made great leaps and bounds into growing a space culture, it can be very disheartening. I believe that initiatives by organizations like NASA are invaluable and of preeminent importance to the future and redemption of the human experiment that we call the human race.

Category:

Travel & Events

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• memorial
• new
• york
• firefighters
• heroes
• peace
• remembrance
• 9/11

[saltspringpictures]

Thanks Donna

James

[donnah79]

nice