I would absolutely explode if I experienced the arrogance from "better knowing, non-biased" people, that you and many others who live through this do, that have close relations with Ukrainians or Belarusians.
I got a small taste of it over Xmas, when a family member spouted some russian propaganda and that russia was just a misunderstood country, unfairly hated on by people just because they'd never visited it and therefore couldn't know. I sort of kept my cool but had steam coming out of my ears for the next couple of days. I can only imagine that it's a fraction of what you must go through.
I don't know if Western politicians are afraid of disturbing the domestic "peace" and sense of normalcy in their citizens day-to-day-lives or if many are just ignorant, but at least I feel that I see more and more voices from politicians and experts online to wake the $£@%"#¤ up.
I've written almost every word here, over and over and over, wondering when I would have to stop writing them, wondering when I would have to stop living them. I told a friend not too long ago, one of the few I have left, that whoever I was before February 2022 doesn't exist anymore. They didn't understand. I can't blame them for that, but that doesn't change my reality, and the reality of so many others. I look back at my journal entries, and I have a day by day look at how that Person I Was Before was destroyed, and I don't yet know who That Person I Will Become is. How, in this world as it is now, is objectivity the goal? Objectivity kills. Yet here we are. I'm not sure where or when my hope went, but strangely, that hasn't stopped me from fighting even more. I won't stop, and I can't stop. I wrote to myself, over a year ago now, is it possible that hate comes from the same place as love? And for me, I think it does. And if love has place and a purpose in this world, then my hate has a purpose, too. And to continue, I will need both.
As always, thank you for writing, but more importantly, thank you for sharing. As I lose more and more every day, either to bombs or to indifference, your words keep me grounded and breathing.
I understand what you mean by feeling that the old you don't exist anymore. I feel the same way about myself: February 24, 2022, was a point of no return. However, at the same time, the real me has never changed. My values and principles stayed the same. What disappeared was innocence as the pink glasses fell off when I saw the hypocrisy, corruption, and cowardice of the world's leaders, institutions, and influential and ordinary people. I think deep inside, you know who that person you will become is, because this person is the real you - without masks or pretense.
I think hate can be different, and the one you are talking about is born from love. Love takes the form of hate when you see people you care about being hurt. In our society, we condemn all forms of hate, but the hate that we feel right now is the most natural feeling that is impossible not to feel when you care so deeply. I think this hate shouldn't be condemned or hidden, because it doesn't make us inhumane, but on the contraty, shows our humanity.
Thanks for writing this. I'm going to refer people to it as an emotional but also clearly argued explanation of how destructive it is to just insist on 'peace talks' as if the words in themselves will magically fix everything.
I would absolutely explode if I experienced the arrogance from "better knowing, non-biased" people, that you and many others who live through this do, that have close relations with Ukrainians or Belarusians.
I got a small taste of it over Xmas, when a family member spouted some russian propaganda and that russia was just a misunderstood country, unfairly hated on by people just because they'd never visited it and therefore couldn't know. I sort of kept my cool but had steam coming out of my ears for the next couple of days. I can only imagine that it's a fraction of what you must go through.
I don't know if Western politicians are afraid of disturbing the domestic "peace" and sense of normalcy in their citizens day-to-day-lives or if many are just ignorant, but at least I feel that I see more and more voices from politicians and experts online to wake the $£@%"#¤ up.
Thank you for your support, Michael! I hope the politicians will wake up before it’s too late.
I've written almost every word here, over and over and over, wondering when I would have to stop writing them, wondering when I would have to stop living them. I told a friend not too long ago, one of the few I have left, that whoever I was before February 2022 doesn't exist anymore. They didn't understand. I can't blame them for that, but that doesn't change my reality, and the reality of so many others. I look back at my journal entries, and I have a day by day look at how that Person I Was Before was destroyed, and I don't yet know who That Person I Will Become is. How, in this world as it is now, is objectivity the goal? Objectivity kills. Yet here we are. I'm not sure where or when my hope went, but strangely, that hasn't stopped me from fighting even more. I won't stop, and I can't stop. I wrote to myself, over a year ago now, is it possible that hate comes from the same place as love? And for me, I think it does. And if love has place and a purpose in this world, then my hate has a purpose, too. And to continue, I will need both.
As always, thank you for writing, but more importantly, thank you for sharing. As I lose more and more every day, either to bombs or to indifference, your words keep me grounded and breathing.
I understand what you mean by feeling that the old you don't exist anymore. I feel the same way about myself: February 24, 2022, was a point of no return. However, at the same time, the real me has never changed. My values and principles stayed the same. What disappeared was innocence as the pink glasses fell off when I saw the hypocrisy, corruption, and cowardice of the world's leaders, institutions, and influential and ordinary people. I think deep inside, you know who that person you will become is, because this person is the real you - without masks or pretense.
I think hate can be different, and the one you are talking about is born from love. Love takes the form of hate when you see people you care about being hurt. In our society, we condemn all forms of hate, but the hate that we feel right now is the most natural feeling that is impossible not to feel when you care so deeply. I think this hate shouldn't be condemned or hidden, because it doesn't make us inhumane, but on the contraty, shows our humanity.
Thanks for writing this. I'm going to refer people to it as an emotional but also clearly argued explanation of how destructive it is to just insist on 'peace talks' as if the words in themselves will magically fix everything.
Thank you for your support, Anna!