Five Years a Writer

In difficult times, it can be the ordinary things that make the difference between surviving the chaos or drowning in the fear and grief. Food delivered. Music played. Compassion given. These are, equally, ordinary gestures of human connection and extraordinary demonstrations of service to those in our circle who are in need. I think of this as the war in Ukraine rages on, and people do unspeakable things to other people, and all I can do is watch the nightly news as a way of witnessing the unfolding violence. Through the nightly news, I stay on top of the day’s worst horrors, while through my social media feed I keep hope alive by reading and watching stories of ordinary people helping others survive those horrors — or do their best to get through the next few hours by providing a hot meal or singing together or playing an instrument and making music. The third instalment in my 4-part flash-fiction story focuses on human connection through music; it was sparked by a Humans of N...