Going to the US completely changed my sense of time. I brought the urgency of war with me and returned with a sense of continuity, stretching back to before February 24. The night before flying to the US I watched President Zelenskiy’s address in honor of Ukraine’s Independence Day. Actually it was a short film—his speech from the center of Kyiv intercut with an impressionistic story of what Ukrainians have lived through over the past half year. I cried at minute 5, again at minute 6, and then when the sky exploded behind the young heroine who weaves through wreckage, suffering, and the courageous defense of our country.
for the record, i have no regrets today about moving to and staying in ukraine. in fact it’s the first time that what i’ve devoted my entire life to seems relevant to more than a handful of people. i do regret not asking more questions when i was young, holding my elders to account for what they did to make the world the way it was. i also regret not taking more interest in my peers, who would have been my partners in taking care of this world.
for the record, i have no regrets today about moving to and staying in ukraine. in fact it’s the first time that what i’ve devoted my entire life to seems relevant to more than a handful of people. i do regret not asking more questions when i was young, holding my elders to account for what they did to make the world the way it was. i also regret not taking more interest in my peers, who would have been my partners in taking care of this world.