deep breaths and learning.
Most of us want to believe what this candle says, don’t we?
The newscycle in the last few days has been flooded with opinions of how ‘unexpected’ the war in the west is, which we all know (or at least those of us who have learned to think critically) isn’t true. I’m not even going to go into my sadness and disappointment at how news reporters have been caught saying you don’t expect this behaviour ‘from the civilised world’. Yes, the same one built on the backs of slaves, refugees, immigrants and indigenous peoples (whose lands we steal and name as our own). Thankfully and rightfully so, it has been pointed out that while the heartbreak one feels for what is happening in Ukraine is very much valid and important, you can simultaneously also grieve and rage at the racial discrimination rampant in the evacuation process taking place between the borders of several European countries. Add this to certain states absolving themselves of all or any responsibilities for evacuating their citizens. They seem too busy with the issue of what young girls are wearing to school and educational institutions in general..
…It’s currently, how do I put it? A WHOLE lot. I spend my days between doom scrolling (let’s be honest when we do it) and reading people’s excuses for ‘limiting their consumption’ and supposed ways on how to take care of my mental health. I don’t think this is right or wrong, it just baffles me at how much we are scrutinised online (as if our internet presence is a true reflection of our personality beyond the digital world)- it drives us to want to pre-empt every wrong thing we might do, every wrong word we might utter, and explain the lack of our actions even before we start carrying them out. I honestly don’t know what to make of how we are all dealing. Because some of it truly bothers me, if I’m being honest- I mean, I’ve noticed people making jokes and feeling smug about the attacks as well- which is truly disappointing. Or arguing ideology loudly while dismissing civilian deaths and the trauma this will bring. I honestly don’t know how we got here (or maybe we know exactly how we got here..). Personally, I have nothing against using this time to inform myself and learn more. In fact it’s one of the ways in which I’m dealing. But learning itself feels like a way to read a one-line hot take and then use it to justify whatever knee-jerk reaction we’ve already decided to have. So all in all, I don’t know. The world is making me anxious, watching how people react is making me much more anxious.
In an attempt to somewhat offset this panic-drive fast paced existence we normalise, in the last few days I’ve been reading and learning a bit more consciously and slowly. Absorbing what I read/listen to. This podcast on Spotify was a super one, talking about the social and political issues around the Hijab ban in India. Listening to the speakers talk about how the identity of a Muslim woman is politicised and made into a battleground simultaneously humbled and saddened me. Into the next few weeks, I hope to develop this habit of listening more slowly and consciously. And here’s a piece about the ban in India, comparing it to France (where the showing of all religious symbols on one’s person is banned). I don’t agree with all of it, but it made me think a lot- I hope it does the same for you too.
Here’s to more mindful reading and really listening. :)
