Soldiers, Veterans and Their Families Need Us

5 February, 2010, 12:54 pm

This past weekend I had the great fortune of not only meeting Dr. Tick, of not only attending a training on how to put into practice his ideas, but of participating in a “talking circle” for veterans and family of veterans. Twenty-three people– Vietnam vets, children and spouses of Vietnam vets, OIF vets, a fiancé of an OEF soldier, children of WWII vets—we took turns speaking our truths. As I write this, gratitude wells up in me as I think of the pain, the grief, the loving kindness, the compassion and empathy people expressed and contributed to one another.
This was the first time in my life that I have felt joined in the pain I have spent much of my life covering over or ignoring because it never found acceptance. Here, at last, I found a community, and through these people– who only that morning had been strangers– I found support for healing.
The next day, as I entered the Atlanta airport, everywhere I turned I saw women and men in uniform, waiting for planes that would take them to Afghanistan. Over three hundred of our service people are deploying every day from Atlanta alone. Yet no one on Sunday seemed to see them, as if the soldiers were just ordinary people going to ordinary destinations.
Please, buy a copy of War and the Soul, and when you next see a man or woman in uniform, go up to them and express your gratitude for their serving us, express your wish for their safety and well-being. Let them know our thoughts and prayers accompany them.

Witnessing Veterans’ Stories

28 January, 2010, 2:46 pm

When the story was over, he looked at us, we looked at him. He saw our faces, our eyes, our mouths, our emotions brimming over. And in that moment I believe he knew community and validation. If only for a fleeting afternoon, he was not alone with his pain. His words had enabled us to receive it and feel it, renewing our bonds and responsibility to one another. He told us later this was the safest he had ever felt in a group.

I wish this for every veteran. We are obligated to be present for every single one of them.

The Vet Art Project

17 January, 2010, 2:29 pm

Vet Art Project is based on the belief that art not only is capable of healing the traumas of war but creates a community in the process: a community of veterans and a community of veterans and civilians, even if those civilians have no experience that begins to approach those of soldiers. Because art creates a bridge of understanding.