![]() On the ten year anniversary, I was on day 2 of writing a photo-journal blog where I was tracking my life through 1 full year as part of an experiment of reflection to learn to better cope with my stressors and find beauty in the things around me. I took a photo a day for 365 days, and this here is a glimpse of the blog post I wrote, recounting the events of 9/11 just as I had you do for your assignment this past week. "Ten years ago on this day, I clearly remember being super angry at my mom. Pretty strange since we rarely fought with each other… but I felt in that exact moment, that this time, it was particularly justified. I was starting my 3rd week of college at Colorado State University, so I can only imagine the shenanigans I had taken part in the night before. My roommate had gone home because her mom was having surgery and I remember that I had definitely planned on skipping class that day so I could sleep in and enjoy the empty, quiet room. I wasn't doing so well adjusting to having a roommate in my space every day, all day. But bright and early at 6:30am (Colorado time), I got a phone call in my dorm room (no cell phone for me back then, what?!) I remember thinking to myself “who the hell is calling this early in the morning?!” and when I picked up and heard my mom’s voice on the other line, I was so annoyed that the first thing I said was “What could be sooooooo important that it couldn’t wait until a normal hour in the day??” Well, we all know how important it was… I turned the TV on, pretty confident that I was the only person in my wing of Braden Hall who was aware of what was taking place because it was only 6:30am. I watched it all happening, while sitting quietly on the phone with my mom. It wasn’t until a couple hours later in the morning that my mom actually broke the news that they hadn’t heard from Georgie yet. Other family members were accounted for, but Georgie was still missing… and this became the theme of the coming weeks and months, as it was for so many other families as well. I remember panic, someone knocking on my dorm room door asking if I was ok because all they knew what that I was from NJ and therefore, must live close to the chaos. I remember someone running down the dorm hallway screaming, I remember telling my mom I was flying home and then being told that I couldn’t because all air travel was canceled. I remember arguing with her and telling her that I was going to drive the 24 hours drive home then – and her calmly reminding me that we had no idea what else was in store and she pleaded with me to stay where I was so she knew I was safe. I felt stuck, alone, confused, scared… but I most remember feeling completely helpless. This was my first time being away from family - why did I have to choose this most tragic time to go out and be on my own? I learned a hard lesson of having to depend on only myself in that moment. I hadn't made close friends at college yet - we only knew each other for 3 weeks. I tried calling so many of my friends from high school who had just started school and I couldn't get ahold of anyone because the phone lines were down. I tried calling my best friend, but he was in the Naval Academy and they were on restriction. We eventually were able to send a few emails back and forth, he assured me it would be okay and that this is the reason why he joined - to defend our nation against such attacks. I was terrified for him. I learned again, how cruel people could be when a women called my Uncle saying she was talking to Georgie on the phone because the cell lines got crossed and that he was alive, but stuck under the rubble. This news spread like wildfire to all of my family and as my Uncle went to meet with her to get in contact with his son, she asked for money and he realized the truth. People hit an all time low in my world during that time. It gave my Aunt and Uncle false hope to find their son alive, when the reality was that they would only find peace years later when some of his DNA was identified. I'm a natural pessimist and looking back at this moment, realizing I could only see that sadness, destruction and cruelty of others helps me connect to that. Maybe I wouldn't harbor as much stress or frustration within me if I had just looked at it another way -- seeing all of the people who banned together and went in fearlessly to save others. The ones who worked day after day, night after night with little rest to continue helping others. Maybe I could have looked at it through eyes of compassion, rather than eyes of hatred. So today, ten years later, I take a walk on this quiet, peaceful beach in my hometown of Ocean City… looking out upon the waves, at the wide open sky, feeling grateful to be here in this moment, appreciating this life for its beauty and this place for the serenity it brings to my soul. So many times I’m uncertain of life and what happens after death… but today, I walk confidently, knowing that Georgie and my mom have “bellied up to the bar” together like as she insisted she would during her last few weeks of life and they are both looking down on us, Georgie holding a beer, my mom holding a glass of Merlot, reminding us not to be angry, not to carry hate in our hearts, not to cry for them – but to celebrate their lives and remember them and all of the beautiful, positive, life-changing moments we were able to share with them. Celebrate the lives of those lost on this tragic day, send love and strength to those who are fighting for our freedom today and be grateful for each moment you have on this beautiful Earth with those who love you and whom you love." ![]() Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a course that is gaining a lot of positive attention in recent years. It's a course that is designed for people from all walks of life, to learn how to bring mindfulness into their lives in order to effectively manage and reduce the stress they experience in their lives. It's a course for recovering drug addicts... a course for people learning to manage their chronic pain... a course for high executives who are chronically stressed... for students who are learning how to incorporate mindfulness into their teaching environments... for psychologists and social workers who would like to teach their patients the benefits of mindfulness... this is a course built for everyone and anyone. I took this course twice in recent years, both times at Penn Medicine's Program for Mindfulness. I took the course the first time because I was having a difficult time handling my own stress levels and it was manifesting itself in many physical ways. I learned a tremendous amount about myself by taking this course, reduced my stress levels which helped improved my overall healthy and it allowed me to take time for myself in ways I had been neglecting prior. The 2nd time I chose to take the course, I had a different agenda. I needed to re-fresh my practice and felt I could benefit from taking it again, but I also wanted to listen with ears of an educator for how I could spread my knowledge to my own students and clients. I recommend this course hands down, without hesitation to anyone and everyone who has any kind of interest in learning ways to cope and reduce stress in their lives and anyone who wants to help integrate mindful living into their own personal lives and the lives of those they educate professionally. Check it out here: Penn Medicine's Program for Mindfulness A student of Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh and a pioneer in bringing Mindfulness to the mainstream by creating a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course adopted by the medical community, Jon Kabat-Zinn has been a lifesaver of mine. I'm currently re-reading his book "Full Catastrophe Living" and every time, I come away with learning something new and different. I highly recommend the book for starters.
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