The cycle of support
A week ago, embarrassed by the extortionary tactic to get $500 billion dollars worth of minerals from Ukraine, I apologized to my friend L, a devout, polite, soft-spoken mother of two from Ukraine. (I know that I personally have nothing to do with the insane calculations and the shameful entitlement, but I didn’t know how else to address ordinary citizens’ current collective paralysis.) Despite her own worries, L firmly and kindly wrote back to me with this sentence:
“To keep from crying, I laughed” — the words of the renowned Ukrainian poet Lesya Ukrainka reflect the philosophy to survive. This craziness too shall pass.
And that is how L let me know she refuses to give in to despair and neither should I.
*~*
M, a normally quiet Ukrainian father, who can be seen DOING things, in any gathering, rather than chatting, checked in on me periodically these last few weeks (I slipped on ice, broke my leg, and ended up with spiral fractures of the tibia and fibula). The first week was too difficult, emotionally and otherwise, what with the pain and the strong pain medications I was taking. I asked M how he was holding up despite all the depressing news. He gently forbade me from worrying about Ukraine at a time when, according to him, I should be focusing on healing. I know that M too is deeply affected by the news, but this is the text he sent to take my mind off the news:
…We can only do so much and see what happens. There are some things we have limited impact on. Don’t worry. Just remember Ukraine has always been, is, and will be…
I find myself repeating this over and over again, like a mantra, a chant: Ukraine has always been, is, and will be…
*~*
Another friend, Em (to distinguish from M), a fellow academic, takes care to send me long, loving supportive messages to see me through this restless period that I am forced to work from home. Alongside interesting verses and motivational words, she sends me the cutest pictures and emojis. When I couldn’t make it to Chicago for the gathering that marked the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine, Em kept me in the loop during the trip, describing with pictures and words all that I was missing. It was Em’s short video that, together, we decided to upload onto my Substack Notes.
Nothing that I have personally written or shared has ever received the attention of so many on Substack until now (over 24,000 impressions’ at last count, which I think means ‘views’). Em has lovingly captured the beautifully supportive, song-filled atmosphere at the peaceful gathering in Chicago to share with other Americans, giving more people than the original attendees a platform to express their solidarity with Ukraine. Just look at the comments to see what I mean.
So yesterday, February 28, 2025, when Em despaired (as in Note below), I was able to cheer her up a little by showing the stats on the video and the comments people left.
The cycle of support. May we never underestimate the power of small, individual kindnesses, gestures and words we humans share. Together, they create a huge wave of support that will eventually pull us all in the right direction sooner or later.
*~*
