Have you ever experienced the feeling of knowing you are exactly where you should be at the right time? I live my life in complete belief that I am where I am suppose to be. That no matter how random we think life can be, it is far less so than we assume.

I am writing this to you on September 13th, yes, that Friday, and just a few days ago a friend who owns a business jet asked me to join him on what was just going to be for me, an up and back flight to New England. So we flew up and on the way back, I was alone in the cabin with the crew up front, choosing to have the cabin lights off and my iPad on. Flying south, the setting sun was to my left side and was offering an elongated glow as it fell behind a long wedge shaped cloud bank.

Our route had us going inland a bit over Poughkeepsie, New York, before turning more truly south. As we did, we started to encounter some mild turbulence. Through the right side windows, now looking west, distant thunderstorms could be seen. Everything looks different from the air. Artistically speaking, it is much easier to understand how light affects the landscape at ground level, if you can see it from above. On this day, we were flying on the edge of a incoming cold front. At 28,000 feet, the storm below was also below the cloud cover and looked as though a war had irrupted, as the lightning illuminated the moisture filled atmosphere with great bursts of energy.

Looking down through the left side windows, to the east, was clear and the almost iridescent mass civilization was apparent by the many tiny dots of ambient light that population brings especially along the mid Atlantic coast. Through those millions and millions of lights though, from my lofty view above, just two stood out. They ascended with a spiritual glow from ground zero. I was seeing one of the most powerful uses of creativity a person could ever witness. Creativity used with a pure symbolic purpose, that of remembrance.

Did I mention my flight was on 9/11?

I started this story by telling you that I believe what we experience in life is not as random as we might think. This was no accident or random joy ride. This was exactly where I was suppose to be on 9/11, more than a decade after watching those twin towers collapse, live on television, as more than 3000 souls were lost.

I have seen those two beams of light gracefully make their way up from the ground, but at 28,000 they are life affirming and had no problem reaching me and going well beyond. They stood in stark contrast to the war like light show I was seeing at the same time to the west, but both a narrative to that fateful day. Both energy, both powerful light, one seemingly angry, the other graceful and patriotic. One sending violent charges to the ground, the other spiritual rays to the heavens. One actually the power of nature, the other an amazing tribute created by eighty-eight 7000 watt xenon light bulbs. "Tribute in Light", as can be seen on its website, mas.org/programs/tributeinlight/, was the conception of many. As explained on their website - it was independently conceived by several artists and designers who were brought together under the auspices of MAS and Creative Time. Tribute was designed by John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian Laverdiere and Paul Myoda with lighting consultant Paul Marantz. It was originally made possible by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and with the generous assistance of Con Edison.

They describe Tribute in Lights as a world-renowned icon of remembrance, I call it a life moving experience.

ThomasNeel.com