Sylvia's Journal

Over the years it seemed that more and more people have woken up to the dangers we have been creating for ourselves: the toxins in our wheat and fields, the processed food, the pollution of water and air, the increasing number of traumatized people, toxic leadership responsible for so many geopolitical catastrophes in the world.  There appeared to be a recognition that we can no longer solve our problems by thinking only of our ourselves, our needs, wishes and wants, because whenever we did, our solutions simply created more problems (mostly for others). Our interdependencies are now more obvious than ever before.

And so, I thought we were finally on a path to planetary peace. I have seen the momentum built up over the past decades (actually, since the end of WWII).  So many individuals and groups were recognizing that not doing anything was no longer an option, and then set to work with others to pursue this path, buoyed by the limitless energy and idealism of younger people. And then Putin made the U-turn. It wasn’t sudden by any means, he had been moving over to the inner lane for a long time, but there it was, bombs and all. Instead of planetary peace we now have planetary inflammation. 

I keep thinking of Mr. Rogers’ ‘look for the helpers.’ For any of the world’s catastrophes (whether self-generated or befalling us) I see an overwhelming positive response. Whether it is food or geopolitical conflict, there are more people standing up for the voiceless, and recognizing our responsibilities towards the 7^thgeneration than those who seem determined to erase the prospects of a livable future for all.

For two years now we have been trying to consummate a home exchange with a couple from Turku, Finland.  Last week they wrote to us asking whether we would cancel (once again) our exchange, fearing to travel to Finland, the country with an 800+ mile border with Russia. Other exchangers, from Colorado, had already canceled, and they were wondering about us. “Not unless WWIII breaks out,” we decided. Finland is of course a special case. It was exactly 82 years ago that the Finns learned it could not count on anything as close to a united Europe we see now. On March 12, 1940, they signed an unfavorable treaty with their big and powerful neighbor that included ceding a part of their land (Karelia) and allow the construction of a Soviet naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.

We went ahead and bought our tickets to Helsinki for June, counting on wisdom and altruism to prevail in the world.