"Never Forget"
Since 9/11, I have seen and heard the phrase “Never Forget” countless times. On car stickers, facebook statuses, t shirts, and out the mouths of politicians, talk show hosts and average everyday people. In the moment of something as tragic and horrible as 9/11, or say, the Utøya massacre, you have the feeling that not only will you never forget the emotions you are feeling, but that you will never be able to. You will wake up the next day, and the next day, and the next day with the heavy feeling of melancholy and remorse for the strangers that unfairly had their lives taken from them.
But that’s not what happens.
We do move on. We do forget. It’s human nature. Those car stickers fade and fall off, the facebook statuses are once a year, the t shirts are given to Goodwill and the politicians use them for good measure. If tomorrow, the rapture happened, and God left some 1 million of us humans here on Earth, we would be affected no doubt. But one year later…? Three years later? It would be another memorial service on television and people would have learned to move on.
So I guess my point is not to kid yourself, not to lie or even feel guilty for not thinking of such horrible events every day that you wake up. I am thinking we, as humans, should put it into perspective. Maybe don’t blindly support a war and call for the blood of innocents just like the ones that were taken from you. Maybe don’t treat people like shit for no reason other than “misery loves company”, maybe don’t let fear tactics force a society into unreasonable laws and regulations that can easily lead to very serious consequences; all in the name of “patriotism”…. Easier said than done.
I remember the shock I felt this July when Oslo was attacked, and how proud I was at the overwhelming response from the Norwegian people. Luckily, unlike Americans and American politicians, Norway responded with peace rather than with hate. But again, people have moved on. Oslo is “back to normal” and even though the media (VG and Dagbladet) is still selling horror stories of Anders Bering Breivik, the Norwegian people have continued on with their lives. That is probably what they wanted to do in the first place.
Perhaps what I’m trying to get at is that instead of “never forgetting” what country you’re from, what race you are, and what revenge you seek; I think we should never forget that feeling of togetherness in the midst of such a tragedy. That feeling of brotherhood, of reaching out to strangers, of helping in any way you can, of love and gratefulness that you feel for your neighbors, friends, and family; and try to carry that with us everyday.
Again, easier said than done.