What's in the street
He did survive and now we were hearing from him again.
A former judge and lawyer, he was coming to us in real time from a town in Ukraine to provide an on-the-ground update on his situation. It was compelling; he pulled no punches. He said it was “surreal” to hear that potholes make the news in Canada while where he is — fighting for his country and his life — there are dead bodies lying in the street.
Surreal indeed.
So much these days is hard to bear, impossible to absorb, really, so his words struck me and have stayed with me. Because, while potholes can do significant damage to vehicles, the chance of the driver or passengers dying as a result of hitting one is, of course, slim. There is no comparison, even though both things make the news in Winnipeg.
The interview was a reminder for me, living here in peace, to move through my days mindfully, conscious of the ease I have in my ordinary life doing ordinary things. To hold that light while being witness to the deep dark shadows that lurk in the corners of this world — and that lie, these days, as dead bodies in the streets of too many towns in Ukraine.
It is not an option to succumb to despair or to tune out the world’s disasters. Yet nor can we give up living our ordinary days. The challenge, instead, is to live with our eyes wide open, giving where we can, helping when we can, and always listening to those whose story is more harrowing than our own.
A former judge and lawyer, he was coming to us in real time from a town in Ukraine to provide an on-the-ground update on his situation. It was compelling; he pulled no punches. He said it was “surreal” to hear that potholes make the news in Canada while where he is — fighting for his country and his life — there are dead bodies lying in the street.
Surreal indeed.
So much these days is hard to bear, impossible to absorb, really, so his words struck me and have stayed with me. Because, while potholes can do significant damage to vehicles, the chance of the driver or passengers dying as a result of hitting one is, of course, slim. There is no comparison, even though both things make the news in Winnipeg.
The interview was a reminder for me, living here in peace, to move through my days mindfully, conscious of the ease I have in my ordinary life doing ordinary things. To hold that light while being witness to the deep dark shadows that lurk in the corners of this world — and that lie, these days, as dead bodies in the streets of too many towns in Ukraine.
It is not an option to succumb to despair or to tune out the world’s disasters. Yet nor can we give up living our ordinary days. The challenge, instead, is to live with our eyes wide open, giving where we can, helping when we can, and always listening to those whose story is more harrowing than our own.
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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.
Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash
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