After writing my first post for the Blood Cancer Uncensored website group, I just had to decompress and get out of the house and get fresh air- I am scheduling myself to be on the call next Saturday. After sending my first post, my heart fell as I became inundated with the Ukraine news and, unfortunately missed the call on Saturday with the Facebook Group. Now, I wanted to submit this as a followup.

Please know that my heart and spirit are with all Ukrainians today as they fight a horrific battle. I had the opportunity to live in West Germany for a year in 1981, began the year visiting London, England and ended the year in England. It was a year that had me see Europe and the UK for the first time. And it was amazing. And, I left that year never thinking that there would ever be a conflict in Europe ever. So I am stunned. And, I am so saddened by the sight of war. I am reading the news daily, and I have been profoundly moved, inspired and felt the need to post again, so that everyone in this group knows we are all interconnected more deeply than we realize- thank god for the internet. The outpouring of support around the globe is inspiring and heartwarming. I am aware that war is a nonsensical notion, but, in times like these, extreme action can sometimes silence the enemy. Again, my thoughts and spirit are with the Ukrainians.

At the same time, I have no idea why, but I’ve been consumed this week watching the Beatles Get Back documentary. And, the significance of their “Get Back” song. Written originally as a direct critique of the anti- immigrant policies, the dispossessed, transient populations, migrants, as well as the basic inherent racism that still exists today.

Witnessing the film, I’m touched by the creative process of writing music and songs and the written word as a way to reach out and connect, and experience ourselves as a much smaller, more interrelated and more deeply interconnected planet than we have ever experienced in human history. And we must continue to reach out and support everyone- and I speak of this wonderful powerful compassionate group of people- as well as the UK, and Europe and Russia and planet Earth. It’s our innate desire to feel we are all in this life together, sharing our common experiences to know the better parts of ourselves. And, most importantly, it’s vital to recognize and be gentle with ourselves most of all. It is the first step to opening and softening ourselves, to be gentle with you, yourself- which can be like leaping a great chasm for some, and a small step for others. Derek Walcott, one of my favorite poets wrote:

LOVE AFTER LOVE

The time will come

when, with elation,

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror,

and each will smile at the other’s welcome

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored 

for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

-Derek Walcott
 And, lastly, I don’t want to step over the fact that life is, at times, a contact sport, and there are times when we need to stand together with those who need us in the worst situations. So I share the following links of brave souls in and outside of Ukraine, standing up for a larger cause. Many thanks for being such an amazing group of people.

More on the Ukraine

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/26/world/ukraine-russia-war/ukrainian-nationals-in-the-uk-answer-a-call-to-arms

hhttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/world/europe/volodymyr-zelensky-ukraine-russia.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/world/europe/germany-military-budget-russia-ukraine.html