Passion Directed to Heal. Stephanie's 9/11 Story

Stephanie Orlina from Clairemont, CA had always had a strong intuition about her authentic passion, but needed confirmation. Indeed our session together not only confirmed photography as her lifelong dream, but her photos were intended to uplift, heal and touch people's souls. However, what served as an even greater confirmation was understanding why she was needed as a witness to one of America's greatest tragedies. Five years had passed since 9/11 and she felt it was time to heal.

Ever since middle school, Stephanie had been hooked on the idea of making photography all or a part of her career, but her fire had been doused by doubts from relatives. "Do you have any idea how expensive all that equipment is?" Stephanie listened -like so many of us frequently do - to her family's doubts, rather than to her heart and got diverted from her dream.

Fortunately, she kept taking photos all through high school and into adulthood. Of course, she had her camera with her on her honeymoon in New York City, but, as it turned out, her photos were meant for something greater than tourist shots. It was the week of September 11th in 2001. In their hotel room, a few blocks away from the World Trade Center, the sound of a crash and news that a plane had flown into a tower reached them. The hotel guests were told to stay in their rooms, but Stephanie heeded her inner voice that said "You have to take pictures. You have to take pictures." She grabbed her camera and together with her husband who had a video camera, they found a back door exit and sneaked out of the hotel.

Out on the street, they saw the tragic events unfolding. The reality of the event hit them hard as they saw a blood stained sheet lying over a body on the ground with a piece of the landing gear nearby. As Stephanie looked up, she saw people jumping from the inferno. It was only then that they heard that this was no accident, but a terrorist attack. As others ran away from the towers in terror, Stephanie felt some power deep within her, compelling her to capture dozens of dramatic photos, including the firetrucks speeding to the scene and the fall of the first tower even while she was overcome with grief and horror. After returning home, she remained in too much pain to be reminded of the event to do much with these photos other than share them to a few close friends. Stephanie could not recall this event without reliving the deep emotions she felt at the time.

Often, after a mere confirmation of one's passion and a renewed desire to work towards it, the synchronicities begin to flow. This was the case with Stephanie as well. A few weeks after our session, Stephanie attended a small party. There happened to be someone at the party who turned out to be a reporter with the San Diego Union Tribune. He knew of another reporter who was writing an article for an issue in September about 9/11 - five years later. He was also looking for San Diegans who had been there. (How many of those could there be?) As a result of this encounter, Stephanie and her husband's remarkable story appeared on the front page of that newspaper. Here is a link to her story.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060906/news_1n6witness.html

Through this synchronicity, Stephanie also got acquainted with the photographer who further sparked her passion for photography. Stephanie was assured now more than ever, that the purpose of her presence at 9/11 was to try to find the people she had photographed and share her photos with them in order to heal - to show them that someone cared.

She and her husband set to work trying to find clues in the photos. A photo of a firetruck had a number on it. Through that, they were able to trace down the fire station. She wrote to that station and included a copy of the photo. A fireman from the station then called to thank her and another wrote her a letter. Sadly, she learned that all but one of the firemen in that truck had perished in the attempt to save the lives of the people in the towers. She had what was probably the last photo ever taken of those firemen - friends and colleagues of the men who contacted her. The healing that occurred took place on both ends of the country.

Today, Stephanie is looking forward to putting those remarkable photos together in a book to be shared with others, as a means to heal. A link will be posted here when that book becomes available.

(If you'd like to e-mail Stephanie about her 9/11 photos, you can reach her at: Darlas_Photos@yahoo.com)

Message: Our passion is sometimes directed for higher purposes far beyond our wildest imaginations or our own greatest plans, giving us strength when it is needed. Our passion is a gift to be shared with others, but sometimes through the giving, the giver is also healed.