I remember June 8, 1972. I saw the airplane. And it's so loud, so close to me. Suddenly, the fire everywhere around me. The fire burned off my clothes. And I saw my arm got burned with the fire. I thought, oh, my goodness, I get burned. People will see me different way.
Interpretation
This quote reflects a moment of trauma and the realization of how others perceive us after a life-altering event.
Phan Thi Kim Phuc's quote encapsulates a traumatic moment in her life during a napalm attack, evoking both physical pain and deep psychological impact. It highlights not only the horror of the event but also the reflection on personal identity and societal perception, as she grapples with the fear of how others will see her after experiencing such profound suffering.
In practice
In a speech about resilience and recovery from trauma.
I wished I died in that attack with my cousin, with my south Vietnamese soldiers. I wish I died at that time so I won't suffer like that anymore... it was so hard for me to carry all that burden with that hatred, with that anger and bitterness.
My name is Kim Phuc, though you likely know me by another name. It is one I never asked for, a name I have spent a lifetime trying to escape: 'Napalm Girl.'
People ask me a lot, 'How can you smile all the time?' I tell them, 'I was never angry. God created me this way. He created me laughing and smiling.'
I never thought that the child who was a famous symbol of war would one day be invited to become a symbol of peace.
My dream is that one day, all people will live without fear, in real peace, with no fighting and no hostility.
For years I bore the crippling weight of anger, bitterness and resentment toward those who caused my suffering. Yet as I look back over a spiritual journey that has spanned more than three decades, I realize the same bombs that caused so much pain and suffering also brought me to a place of great healing. Those bombs led me to Jesus Christ.
After the desperate years of their own war, after six years of repression inside Spain and six years of horror in exile, these people remain intact in spirit. They are armed with a transcendent faith; they have never won, and yet they have never accepted defeat.
I know what it's like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can't. You hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside.
That was the tragedy. Not that one man had the courage to be evil. But that millions had not the courage to be good.
I dislike death, however, there are some things I dislike more than death. Therefore, there are times when I will not avoid danger.
May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism.
Any experienced player knows how a change in the character of the play influences your psychological mood.
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