It’s Thursday morning and I’m sitting on the edge of a table, waiting to have my twice weekly acupuncture treatment. The doctor enters the room to set the needles up and down and either side of my spine. Then one in each hand, in my earlobe, and one on the top of my head. As an antenna, so the good doctor joked the first time he did it. With the needles in place, the doctor tells me to chill for twenty minutes. I rest my arms on a roll cushion on my lap and let my head fall onto my chest. Chill. Easier said than done in these perilous times. Now with Putin doing his damnedest to destroy the people of Ukraine, their homes and their homeland, we watch in very real time, the flood of refugees crossing Ukraine’s borders into former Soviet satellite countries, now NATO members that Putin claims to feel so threatened by. Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania.
Why do Putin’s supposed complaints not ring true? Perhaps because none of these countries have done anything aggressive; they joined NATO to align themselves with the West and enjoy a better standard of living than anyone there ever experienced when they were part of the east block, positioned as they were as buffers to protect a paranoid USSR from European imperialism. Right. Oh yeah, and there was the little matter of freedom too. Freedom to come and go, to travel abroad, to have beliefs that didn’t correspond to those sanctioned by an authoritarian regime.
Chill. I have to keep reminding myself. I’d only just about relaxed some after suffering from four years of trump-induced high blood pressure. The anger and disbelief about what was going on in the US, unchecked and certainly unpunished. The relief of Biden’s election win and feeling that the country could now be turned around, heal politically, and physically from Covid, and hold to account the criminals who had mismanaged and profited from their government positions.
Chill, I tell myself. It will ease the back pain; my legs will feel stronger again. But there I go, making it all about me, while millions are suffering in Ukraine, far too close to us here in Germany. Where will they go? Where will this whole crisis lead? What about those caught in beleaguered cities, being held hostage to Putin’s sick whims? Did I worry this much about all those refugees from the Middle East who have been suffering for years, for decades, forever? Do I worry more because the Ukrainians look like me? Shame on me! What if he attacks a NATO country? Is this how World War III starts? Is this how Planet Earth ends, in a nuclear cataclysm?
Ding! The timer goes off. Twenty minutes is up. So much for chilling. There’s no R & R available for people fleeing for their lives. When I’m out of here, I’ll check my phone for updates on the situation. Maybe there will be news about trump being indicted. That would be an excellent development indeed. But that’s going to take some time yet.
Chill? Not going to happen.
dchubbardwrites 