11 September 2018
Scribe Staff
It has been 17 years that have passed since two airplanes dive-bombed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and wreaked havoc on the peace and security the United States of America held so close. Despite how many years have passed, 9/11 will always be an unsettling topic, .
Large, violent tragedies like this are difficult to cope with and it can be easy to depersonalize violence like this without a personal connection to it, however younger generations must stay respectful and conscience of the effect events like this have on our society.
When catastrophic events like this occur, whether they be school shootings or national security breaches, we have to remember the importance of community and the support it can offer.
In further detail, Stefan Klein, in his book “The Science of Happiness,” states that a strong community can aid in recovery, “It’s loneliness, more than any other factor, that causes stress. It’s a burden on both the mind and body. It results in restlessness, confusion in thought and feeling (caused by stress hormones), and a weakening of the immune system. In isolation, people become sad and sick.”
Since grief can be such a difficult subject and emotion to convey, it’s imperative that we reach out to those around us and lend a helping hand or shoulder to cry on when we can. The neuroscience of grief can be broken down into explaining how it’s an activation of common areas of the brain that function jointly, but a clinical understanding of the neurochemical response that creates grief does not convey its impact on a person.
Not only do these types of tragedies cause grief, but they can also dictate how we live our lives by creating unprovoked fear.
Often times individuals feel as if they must constantly look over their shoulders and be prepared for the worst case scenario, but this is no way to live.
Every day, we live our lives thinking that today won’t be the day that we die, that it’s always someone else. But every one of us is that someone else, and every day we live through the possibility of death.
But we shouldn’t live in fear of that day.
We can’t walk through life watching each step we take thinking that it could be our last, instead taking another path that seems safer. So many missed opportunities can occur because of this fear. Live each day as if it could be your last, but don’t fear that it may be your last. Don’t let fear deter your happiness.