A religious poem for September 11

I originally wrote this poem on September 15, 2001.  I created a song version of this (which now only exists in .wav form) when I directed a scene from "The Guys" for a class I took during the summer of 2005.  The tenth anniversary seemed like an appropriate time to revise and update a little and then share with those who might want to read it.

Note: if you're already overwhelmed by the coverage on TV, the Internet and elsewhere, feel free to skip reading this.  I should probably also state that the opinions and impressions expressed are entirely my own (although I realize they may be shared by others, and are by no means be unique to me). If you like this and want to use it (or are curious about the song version), just leave a comment.

© copyright 2001, 2011 by Kate Kisselstein

Could I Do The Same For Them?
(a poem/song for all the brave souls who helped others on September 11, 2001)

That morning in September
filled me with shock and fear.
I never thought that such a thing
would ever happen here.
And as I stood in silence,
hundreds raced to heed the call,
brave men and brave women
who gladly gave their all.

Could I do the same for them
as they would do for me?
Because times of trial and trouble
always bring me to my knees.
Could I face a raging fire
because someone needed me?
Well I’d like to think if I were there
God would give me the strength I need.

I was too afraid to turn my head
from the chaos on the screen –
too afraid I wasn’t sleeping
and what it then would mean.
It’d mean I couldn’t wake up
to find this nightmare all untrue,
and so it seemed without a doubt
there was nothing I could do.

How could I do for them
what they would do for me?
Because times of trial and trouble
always bring me to my knees.
How could I face a uncertain danger
because someone needed me?
But I’d like to think if I were there
God would give me the strength I need.

I may not be the strongest,
or the bravest or the best,
But when life hands me troubles,
and my faith's put to the test,
the one thing I can surely do
is get on my knees and pray
to Our God who watches over us
every second of our days.

Now it has been ten years
since those flames darkened our skies,
and we’re still left wondering
why so many had to die.
And let us not forget
the many still struggling today.
Since the day that we all held our breath
for the U.S.A.

Could you do the same for them,
as they would do for you?
In times of trial and trouble
just what helps to see you through?
So when you find that life
has brought you down upon your knees -
just take it to Our Lord above -
He'll give you all the strength you need

Yeah, just take it to Our Lord above -
He'll give you all the strength you need.

~ by Kate Kisselstein
© original written September 15, 2001; revised September 10, 2011

"The only thing we have to fear..."

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Thanks to my sister, I read a great blog post about fear of failure at Patrick's Opera Blog. It may seem awfully quick after my post yesterday, but I am hopeful now. I realize that all I can do is try my best at this new job - and if I end up failing, at least I tried.

Speaking of which, it's almost time for me to head off on my commute, so I'll end this with a quote that I saw when I went to see Australia (it had Hugh Jackman in it, ergo I loved it!):

"A life lived in fear is a life half lived." - Anonymous(?)*

*If anyone knows the actual source of this, feel free to let me know!

Becoming a Morning Person?

I'm not sure whether this is true for me yet - but I think I'm becoming a morning person. As I write this, I'm sitting down and having breakfast (OK, a bowl of cereal) and waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. And I still have about 15 minutes before I leave for my second day of working at my new job! Of course, part of that could be that I've also changed my evening routine - showering around 10:30 & heading off to bed.
It's weird - I always thought of myself as a night owl. I was always able to pull all-nighters in college (and a few during high school). Although, one summer I had a great roommate who liked to go swimming before breakfast - and we would both get up and get going by about 6:15. (Does the fact that she was from California play into it? Maybe. They do have a lot of sun there...)

I'm excited about my new job, too - even though it's not in higher education. I just hope that I can do a good enough job that they don't regret hiring me. The person I'm replacing is retiring, and she's been with the company for quite a while. Luckily, she's the one showing me the ropes! It is so nice to be able to understand the logic behind someone else's filing system!

Rant/ So many times I've started a new job and no one really knows how to find anything - "So-and-so always knew where those were" (where "So-and-so" is the person that left/retired/bolted). Trust me, no matter how logical you think your filing system is, if there are no guidelines no one else would be able to figure it out for a while. (In one job, it took me more than eight months to figure it out. Of course, part of that was because the last person had handwritten the labels and didn't have the best penmanship.) In other words, trying to figure out a new-to-you filing system without guidelines would be like trying to decipher the Rosetta Stone without knowing any of the languages, or a knitting chart without knowing what any of the symbols mean. /Rant

Speaking of knitting - I think the one thing I'm missing right now from living in Boston (aside from my friends & family there) is the public transportation. I have a feeling that my first person-size sweater won't get finished for another two years at this rate! On the plus side, though, I've discovered that my commute is pretty much the same length as one episode of a great BBC radio series, Cabin Pressure, a comedy about a small charter airline. It ties in nicely with the location of my new job, which is near the local airport. (If you're curious, you can buy episodes from Audible or iTunes.)

Does absence make the mind curious?

I was reading through and realized I hadn't posted in a while. Last time I posted, I was still living in beautiful Boston, still working at the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard. Since then I've been layed off from that job, gotten a temp job, had that end, collected unemployment, gotten another job (contract & grant-funded), had that end, gone back to collecting unemployment and moving back to Syracuse to stay with my parents. (No job + not nearly enough saving = not enough $$ to pay rent/buy food/etc.)

Not really sure if anyone reads this, anyway, but I figured an update was long overdue. And I'm glad to share the news that I'm now employed again! Granted, it's not in library science - but it is an admin position, so I'll be able to keep using my computer skills. And save up for grad school. (There is no way that I'm going to go the student loan route again - I'd still be paying the thing off while collecting Social Security! That, and I've been taking a great course - "Financial Peace University" - it's about being smart with your money, becoming debt-free & living on a cash-only basis. Scary, I know, but actually doable.)

The thing I feel really good about is that the person I'm replacing is retiring - no scary "our last person quit unexpectedly & without warning" stories at all. I'll be starting May 16 and, luckily, will be able to shadow her for 2 weeks. Hopefully that will give me a chance to get some of the basics down - who needs help with the copier, who prefers things "old school", who (if any) need to be told an earlier deadline 'just in case' - that kind of thing.

In the meantime, I'm slowly getting re-settled in my hometown. Re-learning how to not drive like a Bostonian, and that traveling more than 4 miles by car is not some Herculean, hours-long drive. (In Boston I drove to work for a few years - home & work were a little less than 3 miles apart, and I'd have to allow at least an hour for driving. And that's if the weather was nice...)

I'm also working on some stories, but I don't want to share too much at this point. Mainly because plot ideas keep cropping up that make me think about story events differently. Suffice it to say, it's looking to be young adult fiction and deals with alternative history. At least, so far. (Ask me in a month and that may change...)