A few days back a colleague said she didn't believe she could make a positive change by herself in this negative world. Although we were emotional and talking through the tears rudely interrupting our shivering lips, I had to be stern and tell her she was wrong.
2 years back I witnessed part of what makes this world feel so evil. Since then, I have seen many evil branches bud out from this giant evil tree. I have lost everything I thought was my life, friends, acquaintances, and much more. I have seen smiles fade away, lives become numbers, and whatnot.
I am not alone. You have witnessed much of it too. You might have been indirectly effected by the specific evil I speak of now, or maybe even directly. Or maybe not. But surely, there's a different form of evil manifesting in your life. We all go through evil. We all live through the negativity of this world, and none of the evil that we live through is better than the next.
Same shit, different toilet.
I was on the news recently. Since then a couple more people want to put me on the news, some TV, some paper. A recent talk I did was 3 hours long, but the first question the reporter asked me still runs very lucky in my head.
"Why is it important for you to let the world know about what's going on?"
In the midst of squeezing through the thorns of evil, I realized there's a lot of good in the world. It is hard to see it sometimes. There was a time I thought there was literally no good in this world.
The time I saw the first explosion. The times I thought I was going to die. The times I saw my old home being attacked. The times I heard of friends and acquaintances dying. The time I lost my dad. The time I realised millions of Ukrainians are going through the same or worse trials than I am.
Today marked the 2nd year. Today we took the time to remember how great this evil is.
But
Today we also tried to look at how we can, individually and as a community, do good.
Because there's a lot of good in this world. If you are reading this on hive, then you are part of the good. Think of how many people's lives have you directly and indirectly touched in a positive manner. I know I have overtly said "thank you" to fellow HIVE'rs who have helped me. And if you are one of them, then I hope you realise that I can only say thank you from the deepest part of my heart and repay you by paying the good forward. I want to believe I am doing the right thing and have impacted lives for the better to the best of my abilities and in-turn forwarded the good you have done.
I still remember seeing the first explosion and thinking There won't be another. Then on the 2nd day thinking There won't be a 3rd. And when in Poland hoping it'll just be a month. And in Netherlands hoping it will be just a year. Hope. Hope keeps us all going, doesn't it? The losses are extremely painful, and can never be justified. But hope keeps us going. Hope that we will once again be a happy home and hope will strengthen us to gain victory and create a better future. Hope is the fuel. Is it?
Hope.
I organised part of the memory event. We wanted to make letters and cards for the frontline soldiers in Ukraine so we made the decision to use it in this event. Kids, or even adults could write letters to not only frontline soldiers but also relatives back in Ukraine. Gives hope. Gives strength.
The event was massive. Speeches. Cultural performances. Fundraising. Remembering. Videos. A map where we could pin where our houses are(were). Even prepared pastries with Ukrainian art on it.
No matter how positively I want to look at it. Today is just a very hard day to feel positive in any way.
