Understanding war
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My mind is overwhelmed. I didn’t think it would happen. I was always proud of an ability to compartmentalise. But the news of war on Ukraine has me overwhelmed. Images of violence, refugees, death…
I try to focus on writing, but my thoughts keep straying. I should be working on my next novel, but all I can think about is the conflict. My mind won’t let me be.
My mind overflows with pictures. Torn-up earth, blood, children crying. My heart swells with anger. How could this happen? Why? I don’t understand. I want to do something. But what? I am powerless.
Information overload
I sit, head in my hands, trying to let torrents of new information sink in. All the time, trying, and failing, to make sense of it all. I just can’t seem to put it into any kind of context, because it’s too overwhelming, too big.
I don’t understand the war, and I don’t know if anyone does. Why did it really start? What is the cause? Why are so many young men fighting to support the greed of one despicable rich man? How did it get to this point? What will happen now? Why is it so hard to understand?
I have tried and tried to understand this war, but it is too big. It is all over the news, but I still don’t understand. I’m overloaded with stories trying to find a human angle or something with which I can identify.
When the simple fact is, I can’t identify with this war, because it makes no sense.
How you can help in this war
PEN Ukraine together with PEN Belarus, Polish PEN Club and Open Culture Foundation is organising a public fundraiser to support the creative community of Ukraine.
The funds will go to help Ukrainian writers, journalists, scholars, translators, and artists who have found themselves under threat as a result of the Russian war against Ukraine.
The funds will be used to alleviate the urgent needs of Ukrainian creatives, whose lives are now in direct danger:
Culture is one of the chief bastions of Ukrainian freedom and we must ensure that members of the Ukrainian cultural community can continue to speak out loudly and without hindrance.
Support now: https://penbelarus.org/en/2022…
