Above all else, writers should be writing, but what if you have trouble getting words on the page?
With the world raging in turmoil outside our windows, writers start to wonder if the words they are writing will matter in a time like this. We thought the pandemic was challenging, but now, people are dying thanks to a man with a greed problem. I’m simplifying this because the man has more problems than greed, but I’m sure you understand we are on the verge of World War III now that Putin, the Russian leader, has ripped up the peace deal and has launched a devastating attack on Ukraine by air, land, and sea.
This news is scary shit.
They are bombing the city centres and closing in the capital city of Kyiv, prompting a mass exodus of refugees. These people are leaving everything behind and fleeing into other countries for protection. I’m not much of a political person, but this news bothers me.
Again, I ask how writers can write during this kind of news.
That’s where procrastination comes in.
Writers visit social media sites to forget about all the turmoil outside their communities. For me, the past two months of cruising social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, has become more than just the usual time suck. Instead, they have become places where negativity festers into a sense of sadness and depression. It shouldn’t make me angry to scroll through my feed that shows friends’ constant Wordle stats, ridiculous conversations about anti-vaxxers, and truck conveys… but yeah, it does.
So now, I have made a deal with myself to log in and answer my notifications. I don’t spend extra time on those apps—Two minutes on and immediately log off. However, I have been spending more time on Instagram to look at beautiful photos of new book releases, check out author events, and scroll through gorgeous art posts. These things make me happy. These things also keep my heart beating strong and steady.
While scrolling through Instagram photos a couple of weeks ago, I landed on Birch Notes Creative’s art page (@birchnotescreative) by artist Dawn Huddlestone. The artwork is beautiful and created with the cyanotype process. This process is an alternative photographic technique that captures botanical prints.
It turns out the artist was having a contest to celebrate #oneofmanypostcard charity initiatives, which is a program originally started by John A. Pedder (@johnapedder). John Pedder hosts an international fundraiser three or four times a year as a random act of kindness. Various artists offer up small-scale artwork (print, painting, sketches, drawings, collages, photos, etc.) free on Instagram in exchange for a donation to a charity of their choosing.
Birch Notes Creative also participated in this charitable initiative and asked for comments on their post. There would be a possibility of eight winners. If you won, she would mail an original piece of artwork to you free. When you received it, you had to commit to donating money, goods, or time to the charity of your choice. The recommended amount was whatever you felt the artwork was worth or whatever you could afford. Together, the artist and the receiver of the artwork would make the world a better place just by donating to a charity. A little kindness goes a long way.
It turns out I was one of the winners. My package arrived on Valentine’s Day, which was significant because it is a day of recognizing “love,” and I love art. It took me almost three weeks to decide what charity to donate to because, honestly, many organizations needed assistance.
After hearing about Ukrainian Emergency Relief Efforts, I decided to donate the money to the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal. The Government of Canada matched up to $10 million. It will enable the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to respond to the humanitarian needs generated by almost eight years of conflict, and preparedness and response efforts due to heightened tensions in Ukraine. This charitable organization seemed to be the quickest way to get money to the people who needed it.
Since I made that decision, I have found a few other options. I have given a link below to other charities that will provide urgent aid in Ukraine through the Canadahelps.org site. Go HERE for link.
Also, through another writer friend, Andrew Gross, I learned that many Canadians and Americans are booking hotels in Ukraine without traveling there. This option is getting money into the country immediately. Within hours, the world purchased six million dollars worth of hotel stays at Ukrainian businesses to help them with whatever they needed. I googled this and found a CBC article supporting this effort. If you would like to read it, go to:
CBC: To support hosts in war-torn Ukraine, thousands are booking Airbnbs with no intention of staying
The bottom line is social media isn’t all bad. It is important to remember that. I was inspired to use this fantastic opportunity to be kind, generous, and to help others. Paying it forward ALWAYS makes you feel better.
If you feel better, you will start writing again. As a writer, I believe this emotional feeling needs to find its way into a story. I have a hunch that one of my characters will be an artist in my summer novel, and they will take part in a charitable initiative. I love this idea. I might even call her Dawn. If readers can feel moved by a fictional character, they might be more apt to volunteer or donate, as well.
TOGETHER, we could make this world a better place. We could all be good people with kind hearts… and some of us could write about it.
