The experiences of March 17 in Japan, the earthquakes and the tsunami waves that caused so much devastation will forever be etched in the DNA of Japanese people, and they and we will be talking about this event for a very long, long time. In Chile, in Haiti, in California, people who have experienced similar devastation and panic will understand, will relate.
And then, artists will interpret those emotions, unburden the weight of the fear and the terror of those days in ways for us to understand what they went through. Then, too, we will nod for a while, and then try to forget.
Soldiers write war stories sixty years after the event. Stories of violence and famine and natural destruction are passed down from generation to generation.
Stop and listen.
We'll be talking about this for a long, long time, and the fear and panic will not go away...
We need to listen and be present.
We need to hold hands and cry together because these things have changed us.
Our world has changed.
