Since 911 we’re still livin’
And lovin’ life we’ve been given
Ain’t nothing gonna take that away from us
Were lookin’ pretty and gritty ’cause in the city we trust

Dear New York, I know a lot has changed
2 Towers down, but you’re still in the game
Home to many, rejecting no one
Accepting people of all places, wherever they’re from

Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten
From the Battery to the top of Manhattan
Asian, Middle-Eastern and Latin
Black, White, New York you make it happen

An Open Letter to NYC – The Beastie Boys

I’m an optimist.

Almost 27 years ago, I moved to New York City, hungry to make my way in the city that never sleeps.  The energy, people, and opportunities New York City provided seemed endless at the time and I was determined to make that city my city.

I was young, dumb and lucky enough to think that the world was going to change right there, right in front of me and think that I could have an impact on that change.

Turned out, the world did change in front of me…

In the early/mid 1990′s, the technology landscape began to shift, the fragmented media and telecommunication market began to embrace digital and the internet, and the largest shift in the communication landscape in the history of mankind was underway.  That’s another story for another time.

With that shift, the turn of the millennium was so filled with the hope and desire that the future was going to bring wonderful, amazing things to the world.  I remember being so excited about the possibilities for life and the future.

Yet strangely, as the euphoria of the year 2000 barely began to fade, the excesses of the previous several years turned optimism and hope into betrayal and fear…  The dot.com crash left me with a strange sense that not everyone operated with a sense of integrity, and that there were wild forces that could have an effect on me that were completely and totally out of my control.

A few months later, the world would forever change in front of me again.

A bright, crisp, but sleepy morning… strangely morphs into the most surreal experience one could ever imagine.  Its one thing to view the images…. Another to experience it all live in real time from a few city blocks away. http://dach.is/oofMuq

One minute they were there… a few minutes later they were not.

Over the course of several months and then in a single instance, extreme wonderment, joy, excitement, happiness, empowerment, self fulfillment, hope and optimism led to anger, betrayal, confusion, fear, helplessness, depression, loss of hope, and catastrophic loss of life.  At that moment, the world would cease to be how it was and become something entirely different.

Its hard to understand or even describe what being in the center of that experience, in that place, at that time was like…  downtown New York City in Manhattan, Silicon Alley, and Ground Zero all rolled into one at the turn of the millennium.

Retrospectively, it took several years for me to fully process everything that happened during those early years of the new millennium and I’m not certain I will ever truly process everything. I’m not really sure how anyone could.

Ten years later, we honor those we lost on September 11th, 2001 on that strange and fate filled day.  We also honor all the heroic early responders and countless rescuers, construction workers, and city and government personnel that put their lives on the line to try and truly make a difference as well as those now involved in the reconstruction.  The thousands of American military personnel that have since that day gone on to volunteer to serve, protect, defend and die for this country of ours deserve our unwavering gratitude and respect.

My daughter Ruby at Ground Zero

I’m an optimist. I’ve always been one.  I am certain this trait comes from my perpetual energy machine of a mother who after 7 kids and at 87 still amazes me with her positivity and outlook on life.  Thanks mom (and dad).

The only way I know how to truly honor those who died in that horrific tragedy, those who supported the rescue efforts, and those that put their lives on the line is to to remain open to the sense of possibilities for the future, and remain hopeful in the tenacity and genuine goodness in the human spirit.

I’m humbled by what I see as our ability to focus on building, growing, questing, wondering, imagining, shaping, and driving our families, our lives, our country and our planet forward. This keeps me optimistic that we will overcome our differences and work together to prosper.

These events remind me of how grateful I am for my family (Jill, Ruby, and Julian as well as my amazing parents, siblings and their families), everyone’s health, and our friends, our amazing colleagues, the wonderful communities we get to contribute to, and all the opportunity ahead of us all that life has to offer.

I’m optimistic.  Its the one thing I can do to honor the experience of 9/11, and that is the only way I can live my life.