"We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey."

Nothing can compare to the loss of human life. In the coming months in Haiti, the loss of cultural symbols in the wake of disaster will also be a sensitive concept to be considered. For nations that have suffered natural disasters to the degree that Haiti suffered recently, the structures, objects and symbols of nationhood that have been damaged or destroyed represented a common conceptualization of what it means to be a member of that nation, regardless of personal aesthetic preference, political views for or against, or socio-economic standing. The New York Times ran an article this morning detailing the extent of that loss for Haiti. During the inevitable days of reconstruction, it should be interesting to follow how a nation unfortunately wiped clean of its historical representations chooses to redefine them.