h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My father when going through one of his divorces said to me that he had lost his sense of humour. At the time I dismissed this as whinging (he was not the injured party but insisted that he was). Since the attack on NY and Washington I find myself uncharactaristically glum and unable to raise a smile. This may be to the liking of my work colleagues who may find me a bit on the manic side as a rule but it is not to mine.

Anyone else?

PP

Figetty, easily distracted, uncertainty, a sense of instability, difficulty in concentrating, sick to my stomach.

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***B

You're not the only one.
I can't concentrate.
Work seems irrelevant.
Even being here isn't the same right now.

scared

How to pray for Peace.

I am posting this in all relavent threads I know of - forgive me if it therefore looks like spam.

We all know what it feels like to be near someone who is full of anger. Fewer of us know the power of being with people who are full of peace.

There is a 2500 year old method of building peace in your heart, and spreading it out to others.

I have written a guide entry called How to Pray for Peace. You can find it here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A631261. Again. This is not my invention, it is 2500 years old.

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a girl called Ben

Hi Ya'll

As an American from the south, I always saw the terrorist act over in OTHER countries as a tragedy and always feel sorry for the victims and somewhat sorry for the terrorist for deceiving himself that this is a good idea. But now, I am torn between feeling sorry for the terrorist and wanting to see all of them impaled on a stake and any country that protects or supports then completely destroyed (and yes I mean completely destroyed, no-one alive). I am torn between seeing a nation of individuals (most innocent) and a nation as the entity that must be killed (with no innocents).

I believe that I can best some up what I feel is sadness with my struggle with my humanity in the face of this inhuman act.

Mostly Harmless (but ready to destroy a entire country to get revenge)

mostly,

yes, i think we all feel a bit torn. wanting to make a good decision that is calm and rational, but also want to punish swiftly and severly those who commit, support or harbor those who are responsible.

as far as the sense of humor goes, i also have been experiencing a bit of it, but it started with me before tuesday. ive been reading alot of the book of Ecclesiastes lately, thinking about what in life is really important.

I seem to have lost my sense of humor too after the attacks. I have just felt very uneasy over the last few days. There are a lot of people at my school who are from New York and I know that some of them have relatives who were killed. I have a cousin who owned a shop in the Twin Towers and when I heard about the plane crash, I was really worried that he had been in the building at the time but fortunately he wasn't. I sort of feel funny laughing about things in front of people who have lost relatives or friends in the incident.

Careful, Mostly: If we give in to our desire for revenge without CERTAINTY of the right targets, the terrorists will have won. They will have made us into what they always said we were.

And sometimes even people who are righteously angry can do severely unrighteous things! I work in a 14 story office building in what I firmly believe is the left big toe of Los Angeles County, a really minor area. Apparently not too minor for some right-wing lug nut, who called a secretary in the building yesterday, asked her if the owner is "arab" and telling her that "it'd be a good idea not to go to work tomorrow". I found all this out when I came in and read a letter taped over the time clock from the landlord, telling us of the threat and that it was not believed to be credible by the police. Since when is a person, angry over a heinous crime, allowed to commit one himself??!!!

As a matter of fact, the owner IS an Arabic-American, lived here for 33 years and is a naturalized citizen. Why should he/we be terrified over his last name? Looks like we didn't learn anything from Manzanar.

Definitely not feeling amused these days.
Diane

I haven't lost my sense of humour since the tragedy, but my mind seems unable to grasp it. In the UK, we're used to terrorist attacks because of the IRA, but these are minor compared with what happened on Tuesday. The thought that a group would crash planes into large buildings, killing thousands, is beyond comprehension.

Here in the UK we've had violence against Muslim communities for no better reason than that it's *possible* that the acts were committed by Muslim extremists. I've worked with Muslims and they are nice people. It's the fanatics that cause the trouble. I definitely agree that we should exercise restraint until we *know* who is responsible.

Mostly says he is torn between feeling sorry for the terrorists and wanting to impale them, which is raw honesty and in many ways it is admirable.

I have started doing the Metta Bhavna daily, (this is the Buddhist meditation I describe in A631261); but I have been trying to send loving-kindness and share the common human-ness of myself, my friends, the victims, the perpetrators, and the whole world. It is a tough meditation at the best of times, but this version is quite scary to do.

"May the peace of god which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god, now and forever more."

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a human-being called Ben
http://www.bb.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A631261

This is an abnormal event but we are all feeling a normal reaction. I think the difficlty we are having is in the scale of the events of this week and the fact that most of us are physically separate from them. Intellectually we think " This is terrible, these poor, poor people, knowing they will die, and their friends/relatives seeing it all on TV, but I am not personally involved", emotionally however we all feel bereaved, part of our world, something we are all so familiar with that we feel that it is ours (which surely means it is) has gone forever. The response to bereavement is initially shock and denial, followed by anger then, hopefully, acceptance of the changes wrought. We may also suffer a mild "reactive depression" similatr to that which may occur following a relationship break-up: we can't concentrate, we may feel low and tearful, snappy with others, we may lose our sense of humour. This again is normal and will pass.
Another part of this problem is that we feel we shouldn't have any enjoyment, we shouldn't smile and laugh about anything, this would be somehow disrespectful to those who died or lost loved ones. This again is normal. I however believe that we need to be able to laugh and smile if somthing makes us do so, we shouldn't feel guilty, we are emotional creatures and laughter is part of the rehabilitaion of our souls. Yes, we are afraid. Yes, we are angry. Yes we are devastated at this loss. We all felt pain and fear when we witnessed those people clinging to the building sides, waving white cloths or losing all hope and leaping to escape the horror. To recover from this humour, to remind us that we are human, that we are still alive and have some power (limited as it may be) to help the world turn and heal heal those wounds, is essential. So are sadness and anger. I am still breathing in, breathing out. I have patients this week who felt guilty to be ill. I can help them to recover. Please smile. We are all loved. We all matter. We can all help.

Hi SpaceCadette,

I'm sorry if the way I expressed the Blood lust in heart offends you, but it is there and like most evil will grow if ignored. Yes, I have HATRED for those who did this and all who support and shield them. I also dislike those who were celebrating the attack in the Middle East, but I know their leaders and their own hate have poisoned their minds, so I forgive them. They know not what they do. I also have an intense sorrow and grief for those who died, for their family and for all Americans, for we all lost 5000 members of the American family. I feel the injustice of the Arab-Americans who are experiencing the lost and tragedy of the attack and being blamed for it because they are one of "those" people (much like the Japanese-Americans in WW2). The Arab-Americans that I know (like my friends and neighbor) are Americans first and feel like they were attacked too, but now they must also deal with the "looks" of their follow Americans.

Now take all for that and mix it with my own humanity, the quest for justice, forgiveness, understanding, and living together in peace. You see why I am so torn. And to top it all off with there is not a thing I can do to help or could have done to prevent it form happening. The feeling of total helplessness.

If the attackers wanted to fragment the American people, they have failed. We have pulled together and are stronger because of it.

Mostly Harmless

PS: I don't know if it is being reported world wide but, the news is playing some of the cell phone messages from people trapped in the buildings and on the planes to their family saying "I love you" and Goodbye. Very moving.

yeah, i was shocked, but ok, until they started playing those phone calls on tuesday. i stopped being ok then.

I think I will try to avoid hearing those. That's quite ghoulish of whoever is playing them.

as a matter of fact mina, a friend and i decided to try and most of that sort of coverage. not becuase its morbid (though it is) but becuase the grief would overwhelm us.

Mostly, I apologize: you were being honest about your feelings, and I was too harsh.
I too feel a terrible rage at what happened. I found myself shouting at the TV tonight, and discovered I am much more ANGRY than I thought. Much sadder, too.

I have resisted spending every hour watching TV, like I did on the first day. I've had the radio on non-stop, but tonight was the first time I had watched since Tuesday. It is devastating. I can not get out of my head the thought of those people, as the building came down around them. The ones who jumped to meet death rather than wait for it. When they played the tape of the "Star Spangled Banner" being played during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace yesterday, I started crying at my desk at work. A moving tribute, thank you, UK.

SC

Mostly Harmless, your feelings are very normal. Tragically, most terrorism has been born out of some terrible injustice that occured in the past. Extremists then adopt it as a 'cause celebre' and use it as an excuse to 'under-mine' governments/countries/relgions which contradict their own extremist beliefs.

It is right that the US should retaliate and make every effort to extinguish all those involved with Tuesdays horrendous attacks. Failure to do so would create America's own terrorist groups determined to seek revenge (I believe there have already been many incidents throughout the US of 'assaults' on Arab-americans). However, it is also right that the US government is taking a great deal of care to accurately identify those involved so that no more innocent people die as a result.

S**t, Rainbow, you are right.

I had not thought of American terrorists created by what they perceive as an indadequate response by the US.

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a human being called Ben
http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A631261

Hi SpaceCadette,

Raw and honest emotions can be freighting can't they. But I did not take what you said personally, just a mild misunderstanding or a miscommunication.

Rainbow, your right, that is a very real possibility and not only in America but there was people for around the world who worked and died in the World Trade Center. There may be British, French, Irish, some middle-eastern country... who lost loved ones in the attack whom if the World (not just the US) does not go after the terrorist will take it on themselves to punish them "and those people" and more innocent people will died.

Mostly