On Human Capacity

I remember exactly where I was when I first found out the attacks on September 11, 2001, were taking place. I was reading to 24 first graders in the Boston Renaissance Charter School. It was the beginning of our day and were just settling in.

When I was told the news, I was shocked, saddened, and distraught. My Family lives just outside New York City. I was worried about them, and the unknown was daunting. And I could not show any of that to my students. They had no idea what was happening yet, and it was my job to go on with our day as regularly as I could. I knew I would need to love my students through this.

I'm almost sure that's how teachers across the country have felt as they said goodbye to their students this week and last, unsure of when they would see them again. The notion that what was happening was unlike anything they had ever experienced, the mix of emotions, and the pressure to be brave, while at the same time loving their students enough to give them permission to feel everything is a delicate needle to thread.

In those days and weeks after September 11, I remember struggling through what was becoming our new normal. There were daily updates from Ground Zero, Washington D.C., and Shanksville, PA, with little, if any, good news. Lives were lost, families were struggling, and yet, we were asked to put one foot in front of another and try to go on.

What stood out to me during that time were the ordinary stories of kindness and love, that demonstrated the best of our humanity during a time when we needed it the most. Now, I'm not going to get all sappy and tell you that the world is a better place because of September 11. I am going to offer that it is in the depths of something that earth-shattering that we return to what we know and the basic human decency that occasionally gets lost in our day-to-day lives.

Don't look now, but it's happening again.

Amid the most significant public health threat that we have faced in one hundred years, we are rediscovering the incredible human capacity that lives within all of us. Consider that I had five volunteers - yes, five volunteers - step up when asked to provide child care to essential people in St. Johnsbury! They did not ask any questions, they simply responded to a call for help.

People are singing from their balconies. People are working tirelessly. People are giving away needed food, supplies, and resources for free.

Those are just a handful of examples - please share more in the comments section below this post. We will continue to shine our lights during this uncertain time. We can, and will, shine.

The truth is the things that unite us as humans far outnumber those that divide us. In the same way that we came together as a human family post-September 11, we are coming together during this prolonged departure from our typical worlds. We are all searching for a way through. The only way is together.

We are in this together. We are here for you. I am here for you. 

Take good care of yourselves and each other. 

Photo courtesy of Brene Brown