It might have been most fitting to post an entry 2 days ago, seeing as though I’m a member of the (8?) million strong community that is NYC. Honestly though, my reflections were far from pious, and so I decided to keep my words to myself. The solemn atmosphere spread into our far away borough with an eerie wind, and as the clouds covered 80% of the day, I decided to get out. Thankfully for the Lower East Side, I was able to find some refuge. For those that have direct ties to the mass death, time is their only refuge.

Merited or not, I feel the need to point a few things out. One being that the city needs a tragedy in order to realize there are millions of other human beings out there that need a hug, too. The second being that ten years ago was a dosage of what some cities go through each week of their lives… Brought about by political and religious strife, ideologies are like bombs. They can travel across the globe at high speeds, triggered to explode through a sole and fickle misalignment; faulty wiring, intentional fear strategy.

Social science reminds us that societies are structured; in the case of the West uniformity is valued. Innovation is the profitable way out of sameness. We believe that in order to succeed, we must follow the path of machines; working till our bank accounts are full and our livelihoods ‘comfortable’. But what’s comfort anyway – just a little bit more than getting by? What does society function as? Does it really bind us together, and if so, HOW? – Can we feel solidarity with one another when there are these intense separations of class and distress? By not questioning we are cogs in the development of collective stagnancy.

 

Walk with me down the pathway into the abyss, away from the abysmal. The journey is certain but the routes and the destination are unclear. Try not to fret. You are not alone.