We are not afraid

[pegkerr]

Here's an interesting art response to terrorism: check out the werenotafraid.com website, which was started in response to the London bombings. The pictures are being sent in from all over the world. Here is the link to the WNA Team's favorite images of the thousands which have been sent in.

Comments

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Some very cool pics there. Thanks for the pointer. This comment is also an excuse to use this icon, which I picked up in wake of the London bombings.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

Argh. I would fix the ugly code thingy, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to delete a comment in this LJ-style. Sorry.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I've fixed the URL, and deleted the comment. Thanks for the correction!

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Wonderful piccies, but... that slogan rings false to me. Of course I'm afraid. I'll wager every Londoner who got on a train and went to work the next day was secretly terrified. So what?

There's nothing wrong with fear. It's giving in to it that's a problem. Courage is doing what you've a mind to do, or what you think is right, regardless of whether it scares you. Great courage, as shown by Londoners this July, is doing it with your head held high, and a go-to-hell grin.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Here is the statement of purpose from the website, and I think that the website designer would agree with your statement that "It's giving into it that's a problem:

The historical response to these types of attacks has been a show of deadly force; we believe that there is a better way. We refuse to respond to aggression and hatred in kind. Instead, we who are not afraid will continue to live our lives the best way we know how. We will work, we will play, we will laugh, we will live. We will not waste one moment, nor sacrifice one bit of our freedom, because of fear.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

This is from their FAQ page:

Q. But, what if I am afraid?

A. Being fearless is about not letting others dictate how you live your life. Everyone feels that frisson of fear shooting up their spine when they hear about another act of terror, but being fearless means still leaving the house, still riding public transportation, still traveling the world.

We’re not afraid to work, to play, to laugh, or to live and we know that you’re not either.

Still, it seems a very Humpty Dumpty definition to me. But I applaud their aims and goals.

[dreadmouse.livejournal.com]

I appreciate their aims and I admire the response they've received, but I have to quibble with their statement as well.

For me, it would have been better to say "I will not live in fear" because yes, I am afraid, but I don't want to let that stop me from living my life.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

That's a reformulation I can live with, and it should be close enough to their original formula.

Maybe I'll put together a picture for them... I have some from the opening ceremonies of the World Masters Games in Edmonton a couple of weeks ago, with thousands of people in brightly colored T-shirts in a stadium. That might work well with the sentiment.

Not exactly what they had in mind...

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I've been suffering from panic attacks the last couple of years (I'd swear I got it from an old boyfriend...), and the last week or two -while I've been withdrawing from my drug of choice- I've been having the crawling shakes (feeling better now). Anywho, last night on NPR there was an interview with a local travel writer who (while talking about the worst hotel she ever stayed at, and how she fell in love with the view from her room) said, "If you can put up with some fear and doubt, the returns are amazing". I think this applies to more than just travel.