9/11 – Trauma Then and Now
A somewhat heavy post on a somewhat heavy day, yet still offering resources to recover our resilience.
Today is the 19th anniversary of 9/11 – the anniversary of a day that sent shock waves throughout the world, killing 2,977 people in New York City, launching a war that has killed 50,000 more in the Middle East, traumatizing millions more in the U.S. and changing our paradigms forever about keeping ourselves safe, being able to protect ourselves from danger and trauma. Then, and now.
2,977 people died in New York City on September 11, 2001. By April 7, 2020, 3,202 people in New York City had died of COVID-19. (Now 3,878 as of last week, 190,000 in the U.S. as of yesterday.)
The poem below, List of “Don’t Forgets” and “Remembers” could be as true for coping with the sudden and thorough shifts in our lives from the coronavirus pandemic and the current upheavals in our society as it was for the 9/11 occasion it was written for.
Even twenty years before 9/11, trauma therapist Pat Ogden developed mindfulness-based, body-based Sensorimotor Psychotherapy to help people recover fully from trauma by working with the trauma memories held implicitly in the body. Bringing hope and healing to people whose resilience has been derailed by any trauma.
Here’s a short intro to Sensorimotor Psychotherapy by Pat (scroll down to Discover a Unified Approach to Healing).
Here’s a longer interview Are We All Traumatized? With Pat and Dan Harris on his 10% Happier podcast. (scroll down to August 24, 2020)
And here’s the link to register for the free September 14, 2020 Virtual Lunch Together with Pat, sponsored by Leading Edge Seminars. (scroll down to September 14, 2020)
And here’s the poem
List of “Don’t Forgets” and “Remembers”
We were eight.
Before September 11th, we would wake up with a list of “Don’t Forgets”
Don’t forget to wash your face
Don’t forget to brush your teeth
Don’t forget to do your homework
Don’t forget to wear your jacket
Don’t forget to clean your room
Don’t forget to take a bath
After September 11th, we wake up with a list of “Remembers”
Remember to greet the sun each morning
Remember to enjoy every meal
Remember to thank your parents for their hard work
Remember to honor those who keep you safe
Remember to value each person you meet
Remember to respect other’s beliefs
Now we are nine.
September 11 awoke us to the threat of terrorism. It was forever bookmarked in our history as the day when life as Americans knew it, changed forever.
– Randy Forbes