Memorials

We are becoming a culture of unbridled, childlike neediness. This does not bode well for a difficult environmental future.

 

The insane bombing at the finish line of this year's Boston Marathon was a despicable violent act. Many unfortunate people will suffer for the rest of their lives because of it and because of the obsessive nature of human beings who will insist on going over the details again and again. Some of the latter group will do this for profit. They are as despicable, in my opinion, as the bombers themselves.

 

A woman came forward this week to 'curate' the makeshift memorial of stuffed animals, nationalist paraphernalia and track shoes which overt, public grievers left at the bomb site. Her stated intent was to preserve this pile of sentimentalized junk for posterity. I wish her the best in her pursuit, if this somehow fills some hole in her life. My hope is she finds some discreet place for the litter out of the public space.

 

In my own neighborhood, a rabid nationalist has commandeered a highway overpass on a public avenue to display an elaborate arrangement of large American flags, ribbons and photocopied pictures of the deceased victims of the Marathon tragedy. He/she has posted a carefully laminated letter on this display. The letter is a threat to anyone who may think to remove his/her stuff from this public space. It is an ode to patriotism and nationalism with undertones of self-righteousness. Frankly, I would classify this individual as dangerous.

 

Those who have been religiously brainwashed and remain entranced love this sort of thing. It makes them feel secure. "Nothing has changed." That is the deluded mantra of the subconscious which refuses to acknowledge and move on proactively. Religion, after all, is the enemy of any proactive change which countermands ritual and dogma. Nationalism is the safest religion in a fearful nation which is gradually losing its ideals of civil rights in favor of a police/military state.

 

True grieving, from an established mental health perspective, is moving through pain to acceptance to proactive progress. Grieving is not superimposing my own neediness for attention or recognition on the suffering of others. Grieving is not patriotic. Grieving is not holy. Grieving is a personal process and, when it is done with conscious maturity, a personal responsibility.