I usually struggle to know what to say on Veteran’s Day. I hope that I don’t appear ungrateful… it’s just that I deeply wish that there were no need for veteran’s day… no veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, no families mourning the loss of a loved veteran, no veteran suicide rate, no nightmares. It’s not that I don’t appreciate and value the service and sacrifices, it’s that I appreciate and value a veteran’s life so much more. Both of my grandfathers and many friends are veterans. Yet, while I am grateful for their service and best intentions, I prefer not to say ‘happy’ veteran’s day because without war, we wouldn’t need them to be military veterans and war is not something to celebrate. Yes, I am a dreamer… one that dreams, hopes, and prays for a world without war… a time and place of peace, kindness, wisdom, generosity, freedom, and harmony…. a place where we can love our neighbors as ourselves, respect our differences and still find a way to be free in harmony… so I say a prayer today that we may thrive together, recognize all of humanity as our extended family and all of this amazing Earth as our common home… that we may find a way to serve and protect those. <3
A dear friend and fellow artist (that I’ve had the blessing of working with on the Art of Gratitude e-course), Julia Alter, has said so well much of what was in my heart as I struggled to write and communicate on Veteran’s Day. She shared these sincere sentiments and I’m grateful to have her permission to share with you as well:
This summer, we went to pay our respects to my granddaddy and there was a funeral happening. When they played Taps it brought Dane (her young son) to his knees. The song just has its melancholy way with our hearts.
While I do not agree with war as a solution, I honor the bravery and courage of the human soul. I honor the part of the human spirit that wants to protect.
I honor the young boys who had barely jumped over the fence of boyhood in my grandmother’s stories of Morton, Texas: “We lost ALL of our young men. Every last one of them went into the war.” The first time I saw my grandmother cry, she was telling me about her baby brother, Ray, who never came back, could never come back, would not live long enough to come back.
I honor our family’s cousins who went to Vietnam as bright young human beings and came back broken because of the atrocities they witnessed or committed against other human beings. I honor the scar tissue that built up in their hearts. I honor the bottles they lifted to their lips to numb the images that should not have been seered into their minds. I honor the boys they once were. Explorers. Adventurers with, maybe, a song in their hearts.
With deep thanks and love for this kindred spirit and all those that she describes. You can visit this sparkling soul at Seize the Dazzle to get lost in her wonderful world of words and art if you like.
Again, I pray, that we may find a way to thrive freely in harmony, to serve and protect humanity and Earth, our home. <3
