How to Face the Imagery of War: Contemplate Your Own Death
It is hard to see the images flooding in from the Ukraine. Perhaps many of us could not look away the first week, and now over 20 days in many are feeling themselves shut down, turn away and not want to see anymore.
This is natural given the flooding nature of social media and the fact that most of us have never experienced or seen a ground war in a western-civilized country in our lifetimes. But there is an appropriateness to not looking away.
Our species has a strong need to feel remembered. We list names on monuments, create tombs for the “unknown soldiers”. Being willing to bear witness is a willingness to connect with our own humanity. Yes it takes energy to practice bearing witness to the reality of war, but it perhaps takes more energy to deny that reality. And, each of us have sensitive, complex nervous systems. We have limits to what we can bear. Putting pressure on ourselves to face the brunt of death, including our own death, in one go is unrealistic. However, we can practice facing that reality a little bit at a time. A practice of contemplating our connection to those who are dying, one image at a time, may help us walk the line between bearing witness to suffering without becoming overwhelmed.
A practice of mindfulness is needed. Dr. Sean Feit Oakes, a Buddhist scholar, writer and…