Ongrowing’s February 27th letter | Previous issue: Remaining youthful
Hi all,
How have you been feeling? I really want to create space and invite you to share what it is that’s been on your mind and what it is that you’ve been carrying.
If it’s too hard to share on this public space, my e-mail inbox is always open for us to engage in conversations, especially hard ones.
I’ve been feeling so, so disheartened and low-spirited from all the media coverage of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. Knowing how the past world wars started, this recent development feels eerily similar. While we may be thousands of miles away, tucked in the comfort of our homes, knowing that our roof will still be intact tomorrow morning, I’d like to think that there are ways we can help those in this devastating situation. Here are a few organizations that I’ve found we can donate to to support the people of Ukraine:
Voices of Children - A charitable foundation that focuses on addressing the psychological effect of armed conflict on children.
Vostok SOS - NGO based in Ukraine helping people evacuate, provide humanitarian aid, and psychosocial support.
Nova Ukraine - They provide humanitarian aid to vulnerable groups and individuals in Ukraine.
If you have more organizations or foundations that you’d like to share, please do leave it in the comment so we can also help support them.
Today’s Story
I’ve been thinking a lot about why I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed, sad, and anxious this past week. Mostly, yes, because of the war that’s happening in Ukraine, but why does that elicit so many emotions given that I’m thousands and thousands of miles away?
If you think about it, our human body hasn’t evolved much since our hunter gatherer days. Our technological and societal developments have far surpassed our biological evolution. In an era where we’re bombarded by notifications, emails, texts, calls at the convenience of just a few taps, it’s much more likely that we’d get overstimulated by the news and updates of the world. Our body and our senses are adapted to see, hear, touch, and smell things that are immediately physically threatening to us i.e. we can probably hear a gunshot from half a mile away but not from a thousands of miles away, we can smell fire within a one-mile radius but not from across the continent.
The bottom line is this: our bodies are not evolved to absorb and consume the amount of information that we currently have access to.
So what happens when we try and take in everything that is our there on the internet? For me, I feel an overwhelming amount of fear and anxiety arising from the uncertainties of the future. A huge amount of pressure to do something about all the injustices and conflicts that we become aware of (and there’s a growing list of them, from local to county to national to global levels). A sinking feeling of helplessness as you watch fellow humans suffer on your device but not being able to directly help or support them.
All these things manifest into a lack of motivation to do things, doom-scrolling, feeling lost, and not feeling a sense of peace or joy.
The (Writing) Prompt
How are you feeling with what’s going on in the world? Allow yourself to shut down from the news every once in a while and focus on what’s immediately present in front of you. What can you see? What can you hear? What can you touch? What can you smell? What can you taste?
During these times, I’m learning that we also have to let go of our stress and anxiety around the issue. Carrying this burden can’t stop and won’t stop wars from happening. By being stuck inside fear and suffering, I shy away from shining my light and doing work that demonstrate my values of peace and harmony. I believe that the best way for us to help others is to simply do our best each day. Some days that may mean educating ourselves and learning about what’s happening, some days that may mean resting easy and caring for our mental well-being. Just keep doing you and whatever your best is.
With tenderness and lots of love,
Fair