Quote

The 'looking forward' so prevalent in the late 1990s was bound to end once the new millennium began. Like some others of that era, I predicted a new focus on the moment, on real experience, and on what things are actually worth right now. Then 9/11 magnified this sensibility, forcing America as a nation to contend with its own impermanence.

On a bigger level, 9/11 was a crystallizing moment for my generation... the bubble popped. We were like, 'Whoa, this is what the real world is like; it's not all fun and games.'

I think the heartbreak of September 11 - America's grief not only over the loss of life but also the loss of our own innocence - has expanded us as people because it has tenderized our hearts. On a psychological level, the American people have matured as a result of that awful day.

And when you really think about the 9-11 event, the horrific attack on our land here in America and the death of three thousand of out loved ones, it was a defining moment.

There are terrible, terrible memories of September 11th, things that I saw, people that I lost, the devastation, the identification of bodies. I mean, all these memories come back to you at different times. And then the other side of it this tremendous response with the firefighters and the police officers saving people, the rescue workers.

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, 'Well, I've had it with humanity.' But I was wrong.

There was so much fear after 9/11, and that fear caused people to make the wrong decisions.

With the perspective afforded by the passage of time, where does 9/11 rank as a turning point in our national history? For the victims and their families, innocents going about their lives, suddenly and brutally murdered, no other day can ever matter as much.

It is true that I will confess that I have an incredible fascination for pop-culture stories about the Apocalypse and the end of the world.

In the '90s there were these great end of the world movies like 'Armageddon' and 'Deep Impact'... I always liked the idea of what people on the ground are doing, not so much the people who are trying to stop the world from ending.