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The ash and rubble have finally settled, and after a time, so will America's anxieties. The oft-heard phrase "life will never be the same" is receding into the fog of national consciousness leaving behind one question: how much has changed, and will Americans ever be "normal" again.

There's a part of me, and I'll be the first to admit, a large part, that can look back and say, you know what? My world hasn't really changed much at all. I wasn't there when it happened, so the only trauma I can claim is the same vicarious sort that most of America shares. I didn't lose any loved ones, in fact, I don't even know anyone who was injured in the attacks. My job hasn't been affected in the least bit, either. I don't fly as often as I'd like, but if I had to tomorrow, I would do so happily and confidently. For all of these things, I am profoundly grateful. But as even most New Yorkers are saying, life will go on, and so we must let it.

The President and Congress and of course the news media have indicated over and over again (lest we forget) that we are a nation at war. Which is odd, because it doesn't feel like we're at war. It feels as though we were cruising whimsically along and were suddenly slammed to a halt and are just now wheeling onto the road again, but not at war. Maybe it's because when we think of how a nation should behave and how it is supposed to feel during wartime, we immediately imagine not Vietnam, or even the Gulf War, but WWII. Which is remarkable, because most of us were not yet alive to even see life at that time. War has shrunk in scope and impact since then, so maybe that's why they don't seem as real and immediate as we think they should. I doubt I'll know anyone from my street who goes marching off to wherever we hold accountable for this; I can say with absolute certainty that we won't experience blackouts beneath a wail of air raid sirens; and there won't be rationing of any real kind. Given the secrecy of America's New War I doubt many of us will even witness much of it on TV. We'll have to make do with our imaginations and failing that, stock footage mixed with speculative infographics cobbled together with all the penache of a Powerpoint presentation by production assistants.

So what will life feel like from now on? Well, airport waits will be longer. Security will be stricter — but of course we all know, it's coming a day late and a dollar short. Some people will use this as an excuse to live their lives on edge all the time--everything being a potential target; every unknown a possible threat. I wonder if this stems from the delusion that fear is more stimulating than yesterday's carefree boredom and if these people will declare it a worthwhile trade. It won't make their world any safer, but it will make it more exciting.

Americans love to puff up their chests and boast about the strength of our unity and the supremacy of our resolve, and its refreshing to show the world that the "United" part of our name still applies. The whole country was with New York that day and even through the weeks following and I haven't seen a hint yet that any of it might be disingenuous. But we've also seen this used as an excuse to air prejudices and racist tendencies in the open by the more ignorant of our society, and while it's been a constant fixture of human nature, you still hope it abates as quickly as possible. The most sinister development to come will be the impact this will have on our civil liberties. Congress and Atty General Ashcroft seem determined to requite as much power to law enforcement to observe the doings of America's people without impedance as the public is willing to let them do it. It's an acceleration of the misguided notion that people should be perpetually obligated to prove their innocence at any time, not just if they find themselves before a jury of their peers. We are fast becoming a nation of snoops, and I fear we will all be the worst for it...certainly we will be no safer. There is a growing clamor, some of it from law enforcement themselves, that we have gone too far in daily surveillance of everyday lives, and I hope these voices carry above the current din in the future. An example is a former operations director for the CIA who, when asked how much civil liberty he would be willing to trade for security, replied simply: "None." I couldn't have said it better. If this country cannot imagine a way to keep it's people safe without pillaging the Constitution, then it does not deserve the priviledge of counting itself a nation of free men.

It was said that America lost its innocence on September 11th, and I don't dispute that for an instant. But we've lost our innocence many times, only to have it return, softly and without notice, like a familiar blanket. Americans are famous for forgetting great portions of their past and in this instance, I think leaving the pain and fear behind won't do us a bit of harm. Some people have gone through the time since these attacks feeling like the world around them had stopped, shifted to one side, and picked up again on different footing, leaving them behind. Others have been re-awakened, their days now more clear and authentic in the absense of the trivial and inconsequential that smothered our lives before this. In the end, I think this event will leave us stronger than we were. Our lives will pick up where they left off and we will largely forget the grief and distress of September and live our lives fully again. We've all experienced what life is like if we don't.