In a recent conversation, my husband made the comment that he thinks much of the world, the United States in particular, is suffering from post tramautic stress after 9/11. Yes, that tragic day occurred over six years ago, but I think he may have a point.

People don't seem to care as much as they once did, about politics, the world, even their neighbors. Don't get me wrong. I have great, caring neighbors, but so many of us feel as though we can't do anything about the atrocities that occur throughout the world or even in our own country.

We are numb from the ongoing battles in distant lands, and often we don't want to hear about the number of brave men (and women) who died today trying to fight for freedom, or the innocent victims who lost their lives. Many don't even know whose freedom they're fighting for. They don't want to know.

Maybe the post traumatic stress is more extreme in my part of the country, in the long shadows of the Capital building and the now-repaired pentagon. After all, the DC area was still recovering from the shock of 9/11 when we were terrorized by snipers for the better part of a month. To this day, I am still leary of standing beside my car when I fill it up with gasoline.

I didn't realize how desensitized many of us in this area had become until a year or two after the sniper incidents. A tornado was coming through our area just as the school day was coming to a close. My daughter's elementary school teacher was new to the area, and she was very concerned at how my daughter reacted when the school went into lockdown mode and the students were all moved to the safety of the hallways.

No, my daughter didn't freak out, she wasn't screaming or yelling hysterically. All she did was pull a book out of her backpack and sit down in the hall until the crisis had passed. She was completely relaxed, completely unconcerned. Like many of us, she had accepted that she couldn't do anything to change the outcome of the day so she chose not to dwell on the possiblities.

With the political campaigns heating up, with the fighting still continuing in Iraq, can we really afford to let complacency continue? As a nation, we have to find a way to heal. We have to help this rising generation who has already lived through so much learn how to live fully, how to care about others, and that they really can make a difference. One person alone can only do so much. United, as a people, we can change the world.