Maybe I am still a little human...

I have come to realize that alone in my room watching television, I experienced a moment of humanity within myself.

Last night, I mindlessly flipped through channels, when somehow I finally stopped on the Independent Film Channel.To my dismay, "Bowling for Columbine" was showing. I had never taken the time to sit and watch any of Michael Moore's films just because of my general distaste of Micheal Moore for various reasons. But this is beside the point. I happened to start watching as a montage of clips of international conflicts that the U.S. had been involved in with a timeline of what the U.S. did and how many casualties resulted from the conflict. The timeline ended at September 11, 2001. The clip included in the montage was of the second plane hitting the second tower.
Now, like most people of my generation, I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, what I felt. And what I felt was fear. As I sat and thought about what I felt when I saw the video of the terrible day, I realized it had been years since I had seen a picture, much less a video of those events. After seeing the images over and over again, many feared it would numb the American public and make the American youth even more desensitized to violence and tragedy than we already are.
But after a few minutes of playing that scene over in my mind and thinking about the fear I felt and how the events of that day continue to effect my life more than six years later, I felt as if someone had ripped my heart out, my stomach sunk to the floor, and I cried.
I cried for myself, my family, those who died, those who lost loved ones. For those who have died in the war that began as a result, whether legitimately or illegitimately, of that day. For those who will die.
Maybe no matter how many tragedies one witnesses or how many times one views brutally real images of tragedies, we remain human, whether we want to or not. Whether we agree or disagree with the issues that face us, our nation, or our world, we are all human. Maybe the human spirit, the human soul, maybe just human dignity or the ability to feel connected to other humans cannot be erased. Human sensitivity remains and we continue to grieve and rejoice for our own kind: mankind. With that in mind, with this discovery within myself, I feel the future is brighter than we think.