Processing the Ukraine Invasion
As you undoubtedly have heard, read, and seen, Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine February 20, 2022. Since the invasion, the United States and our Allies have provided unified opposition to it, and to Putin’s efforts to further terrorize Ukraine, but this doesn’t always look the way we would like it too. Also, obviously, this is so heartbreaking. Ukrainians fought hard for their independence from the former Soviet Union, and understandably, don’t want to have endured the losses they took then and are taking now just to be reabsorbed into a new (and possibly darker) version. In the interest of transparency and solidarity, I decided that the best thing to do today is to model some vulnerability and humanity in sharing my response to this crisis on the heals of several in the hope that whoever needs to read this will feel validated and supported.
My general take as a helping professional is that while I value being open, honest, and relatable, I never want my problems to take precedence over my clients’ problems. We all need a safe space where we can be heard and not have to worry about what the other person is going through. I consider it a sacred obligation to hold that space for those who need it, and this is not intended to compromise that.
We Have Been Here Before
It’s an odd comfort and irritant that I grew up during part of the Cold War and watched the fall of Communism in Germany. Eighties movies featuring what were otherwise carefree jaunts through Europe often contained references to shady checkpoints. Putin, along with other strongmen, cast a shadow of implicit threat that stretched long across us all. Nobody wanted to talk about it, but it was always there, and it still crept into popular culture. One place it played a particularly prominent role was Wargames where a boy played by Matthew Broderick inadvertently starts playing “Nuclear War” with a computer that actually sets to work preparing to launch nuclear missiles.
It’s not trivial. It’s terrifying and it always has been, but I believe that it is also important to remember that this is something we have experienced before. Just like that time, nobody knows the outcome. However, we just don’t know and that means we don’t know things will turn out badly, we don’t know if they will turn out well.
News Rollercoaster
A lot of people talk about the news rollercoaster and series of terrible events starting with the Pandemic in 2020, but I would argue that things have been tense since the 2016 election. (In case anyone has forgotten, shortly after Trump took office, several key people in Russia spontaneously died from poisoning, were hospitalized due to attempted poisoning, or just “happened” to fall from tall buildings. Additionally, most intelligence confirms that Russia did interfere with the campaigns and the election.)
If you are concerned about freedom and democracy, regardless of political affiliation, all of this is clearly connected and it is concerning.
The COVID-19 pandemic is, unfortunately, the product of a perfect storm of environmental, political, and socioeconomic factors that have a high likelihood of triggering similar phenomena in our lifetime.
It isn’t just news. The truly frightening part of all of this is it’s news because it is all part of the reality we are contending with. While all of that is frightening and depressing, it’s equally important to keep in mind that we do have the privilege of living in a place that is safe enough for us to live our lives in relative health and peace.
One Day at a Time
I agree with people who are tired of seeing tweets and posts sending “thoughts and prayers” to the people of Ukraine. In my opinion, they need and deserve more support from us. However, as just one person here, I cannot do more than that. When possible, I try to use the influence I have as a voter and a citizen of the US to push our leadership to support Ukraine, but I recognize that influence is limited.
The best thing I can do right now is to live the best life possible and to do it with integrity. I’ve seen way too many interviews with refugees and one thing that echoes is we just never know what day will be our last.
Take care of yourself. Take care of those you love, and cherish all the things about this wonderful, confusing, and often painful life, and remember that it doesn’t make you irresponsible or uncaring to take a break from the news for a bit.
