IN A LAND DEFINED BY WAR AND UNCERTAINTY, pain becomes a shadow that haunts even the brightest of the souls. Almost two years of devastation made Ukrainians see at distance the days when death started to be obsessed with us. Death now is a daily reality, a daily possibility. It's not wise to fear it, and we have learned it well.
Pain, instead, is the predominant fear of these people today. I'm not talking about the unpleasant sensory experience, as feeling physical pain is also taken into account as a possible prospect at any time. The sharpest pain lies is another level of perceptions: the fear of losing those we love, the destruction of our homes, the campaign against our people as a nation.
What hurts is not the pain itself, but the potential of pain on our loved ones. Including the pain they would feel if something causes pain for us, or a more serious and irreversible outcome. This is the deepest fear of all, the one that strikes the core of the human spirit.
But besides this extreme journey of life, other categories of pain are popping up everyday as we pass the 700th day of the invasion. Every Ukrainian has its own particular set of fears, and something that I've personally been confronting these last weeks is the pain from the fear of losing inspiration. Of being unable to write, to create, to deliver something meaningful to the world.
I love to write these articles. As an extremely introverted person, here I discovered a way of expression that I've never lived before. Despite never being and never thought to be a writer, this is a connection with a very honest and strong part of my soul. However, may the harsh environment of these days extinguish the flame of creativity, leaving behind a void of emptiness?
I fight everyday to keep seeing the blessings that surround us by the simple fact we have a life to live. I do everything I can to see the moments of beauty and grace that are waiting to be discovered no matter the circumstances. I choose everyday, and this is a choice I am committed to follow until the last of my days, I choose to be grateful for whatever I have, which includes being thankful for the opportunity to create, to write, and to possibly make a difference to someone with my words.
I also anchor myself to the belief that hard times are also a test that boosts human potentials of creativity and innovation. When we live the extremes, we witness the borders of the adventure of living a life, and there's almost a duty to tell the story.
Because a human story told under the extremes is human history.
And despite the condition of living under a war, where there's a proliferation of the most possible extreme of sadness, anxiety, and pain, here there's no shortage of the other contrasting extremes of life. In particular, the extreme when love is prioritized in all its forms, being the love for our fellow citizens, for our country, and also for ourselves.
So living under the extremes, I hope to never lose inspiration to tell my story. Even if the pain of losing it sometimes comes strong.
Thank you for reading.
Love.
π More than a newsletter, this is a community. We divide our lives, share emotions and establish a connection that has been amazing to me and comforting at the hardest times. I hope to reach you with an inspiring content and make at least a little difference in your perceptions about Ukraine.
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π Last winter, Iβve also written a book called βThe Divine Comedian: Ukraineβs Journey Through Hell, Purgatory, And Paradiseβ. If you still havenβt read it, I welcome you to take a look and give me your opinion. It is available for free downloading in PDF and Kindle formats:
Keep writing. Your voice is important and inspiring!πΊπ¦πͺβ€οΈ