Although we will talk about joy and what it really means in the coming months, I must admit that I dwelled in the cocoon metaphor a bit too long, maybe — mine is the anxiety of a fledgling butterfly, if you will. But then I still think discussing the cocoon and its reality was not utterly in vain. Mika Buljević agrees with me in her letter:
“Sometimes contemplation is the ultimate reality, the scary and hairy labyrinth of our life choices, failures and victories, an inventory of our life. And I would argue that the weariness comes from taking stock while standing still. It takes much more energy to stand in the river than to swim down the stream, but admittedly much less than swimming up the stream. But swimming up the stream doesn’t necessarily mean that we can see the whole reality while performing mad strokes in cold water. Hopefully, we can learn how to get out of the river and walk up the stream. Maybe that’s where we get a glimpse of the magical part of reality, catch a breath and get the strength to live fully.”
Are we confident enough to say no to war?
But then aren’t we all put in a paralyzing cocoon, especially these days when it feels like a WW3 is imminent? It sounds like a bloody joke, no? Right when we think we’ve seen it all in the last few years, the world’s reality tells you that this might only be the beginning. It is both a tragic but an ironic coincidence that we’ll be talking about befriending the fear starting next week. Are we as confident as we had been in 2001 when the people of the world took to the streets to say, “No to War”? Then choosing the whole reality and challenging it was almost the norm, but today, I see jokes about the war on Twitter. I wonder wt breed of butterflies would come out of the cocoons of cynicism. Or a better question; do you think it is possible today to organize an anti-war movement on such a global scale? After seeing the political miracle Chilean people managed to create during the pandemic, yes. Or do you think the world feels like the reality is insurmountable?
I wonder what breed of butterflies would come out of the cocoons of cynicism.
If my argument about choosing the whole reality as a remedy for the despair of reality is valid, then we can try to join those around us who would be determined enough to say no to war even when nobody listens. Do you have the energy or the will, I wonder? Do you?
Yours,
Ece
