What’s the Word: Finding words to deal with grief
The importance of communication to human society cannot be overestimated. Without language, without some way to get across our ideas and impart information to those around us, human progress would have undoubtedly slowed to a veritable standstill.
But beyond the transmission of ideas and information, language gives us the all-important ability to express our feelings, to convey to others what is in our hearts. To articulate not just what life is, but what it means to us.
Even so, on occasion we are presented with situations of such import and emotional impact it is hard to find words to express our emotions.
Such a case is the heartrending loss of the seven heroes on the shuttle Columbia.
While it is indeed hard to give meaningful voice to our sense of hurt and loss, it is perhaps not so hard to find words to describe our fallen heroes, to give meaning to their sacrifice by examining the very nature of their personalities and commitment.
So, since others more articulate than myself have found words to convey our grief in the hours since the disaster, I shall endeavor to find the words to help us understand who they were and why they took their amazing journey to the stars.
To my way of seeing, the first word would have to be:
Adventurous.
What an adventure it must have been to explore the stars. It must have been something they had dreamed of since they were children. Surely only a supreme sense of adventure would have driven them to make the effort to achieve what many would consider an impossible goal for the common man or woman. And indeed, these were uncommon men and women.
Like many children, when they watched the exploration of space unfold on their television screens and in books, they must have imagined themselves living those adventures. The difference is they actually made it happen. They lived their dreams.
The next word I would choose is:
Courageous.
Each and every one of the Columbia’s crew was well aware of the dangers and risks involved in their chosen occupation. Many of us might cringe at the thought of strapping ourselves into a rocket filled with volatile fuel that would literally explode us into space, far above the comforting grip of mother earth.
The mere thought of the dangers inherent in such a journey would have prevented most of us from even thinking of making the trip, but not these travelers. Some might say they were beyond fear, but I don’t think so. They were intelligent, incomparably trained and knowledgeable individuals, so I believe they knew fear, they just overcame it. They put it behind them. They used it to sharpen their senses, but they didn’t let it rule them.
They possessed something common to all heroes, courage, and they rode that courage to the stars.
And while the words I have chosen so far bespoke some of the traits they all shared, here is a word that tells us who they were:
Explorers.
Like the many adventurous souls before them, they launched themselves into the unknown. They took a chance on a potentially dark end to achieve the elusive goal of discovery. To find something new and wondrous, something incredible or miraculous or astounding.
When Columbus set out on those dark seas, little did he know he would discover a land that would develop the technology to explore the stars, and the heroes that would take that journey.
And, in all its irony, a land that once was called Columbia.
(Charlie Johnson is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)