{"id":2277,"date":"2023-01-18T14:30:11","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T19:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/?p=2277"},"modified":"2023-11-07T11:40:39","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T16:40:39","slug":"2277","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/2023\/01\/18\/2277\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Seconds to Run"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“Late for children’s day!<\/a>” by\u00a0Seema Krishnakumar<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY-NC-SA 2.0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
“SIREN AIR RAID BIRDS.mp3<\/a>” by\u00a0stifa10<\/a>\u00a0is marked with\u00a0CC0 1.0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just two weeks ago, I found myself staring at a playground located directly on top of a bomb shelter. The juxtaposition of this scene struck me. The playground was a representation of innocence, childhood, youthful joy, and life, Yet, it sat atop a building that represented fear, death, threat, and destruction. This playground was located in an Israeli community only a couple of miles outside of the Gaza strip, right between two lands that hate one another. I got to see this when I visited Israel over New Year’s. I was reminded of this when I saw the photo above. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I imagine that same photo in my hometown, happy feelings arise. It brings nostalgia as I remember my childhood, dreams of the future for the kids playing, and peace as I look at the sunset. Yet, when I remember a similar playground in Israel, I feel sad, angry, and anxious. This is because context matters. The context for the Israeli children I met was a playground located a mile away from people who wish you were not there, in a political climate of tension that has been building for years, and in a town where you only have 8 seconds between when the alarms go off and a bomb hits. I grow sad to think that these kids might not make it to be an adult and angry at the lack of peace in the world. I remember one man sharing how his house doesn’t have doors so his children can easily run when a bomb alarm goes off, and I do not feel the same peace as I look at the sunset in that photo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those feelings of fear, stress and sorrow are the same feelings that arise when I look at the picture above of innocent children playing paired with the sound of sirens and bombs in the background. It is a pairing that feels like it should not exist, yet unfortunately, it does. Yet, this does not take away the beauty of the image or diminish the joy of the children in that photo. Instead, it highlights the strength and bravery that so many people have to continue living their lives despite the danger around them. The ability to find joy amidst a world of conflict. It is truly beautiful to see a sunset and children playing with hope for a better future rather than fear of the present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember the tour guide saying, “I often ask myself why I have not left yet, but then my children tell me that this is their home and they don’t want to leave. And that is why I choose to stay.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Just two weeks ago, I found myself staring at a playground located directly on top of a bomb shelter. The juxtaposition of this scene struck me. The playground was a representation of innocence, childhood, youthful joy, and life, Yet, it...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,2],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-2277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2023","category-student","tag-cc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2277"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2284,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions\/2284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}