Being on track

It is a new week bringing its own lot of mental questioning and reflection.

First of all, it is a time for celebration as the Ukrainian army managed to push back the Russians away from Kyiv, showing the world the meaning of courage. I cannot help but admire these men and women abandoning everything for an ideal. For the defence of what is theirs and the protection of future generations. Perhaps this is just a romantic view and these people are only fighting for their survival amidst total destruction. Regardless, it takes nothing away from their indescribable grit.

This situation is a deadlock leaving many of us grinding our teeth, witnesses of the massacres left by the Russian army in its wake. We would like to help stop this butchery and put an end to Russia's vehemence and hunger for power. However, what can we realistically do except arm the Ukrainian tiger the best we can? Add sharpness to its claws so it can hurt the Russian bears into giving up? We are loathing the situation and it is creating a split within our societies between those who see military confrontation with Russia as inevitable and those who think that we must stand aside and remain paper tigers. How could we forget Neville Chamberlain's infamous "Peace for our time"? That lingering feeling that the European history, already littered with conflict cannot escape the perceptible sentiment that its relationships are poised to end up in war?

"History stutters, but doesn't repeat itself"

People around me claim that "History repeats itself". I retort, as one of my favourite high school history teachers used to say, that "History stutters, but doesn't repeat itself". War is always destructive and the absolute reminder that it is only within a well-balanced society with checks and counterpowers that one can remain at peace. However, the reasons behind every single war differ, our reactions to it differ and the world changes as we go, or rather it evolves. Putin is putting us in front of our ideals and how much we care to defend them. The propaganda machine prompted by Russia is almost comical and a stark reminder that peace is not a guarantee.

Yet, this is an opinion piece. I don't spend time writing this newsletter simply to make observations. I believe that we must do EVERYTHING in our power to help Ukraine. Since its 2014 revolution, Ukrainian people have been steadily reaching toward the EU and developing a society free from Russian interference. This is an opportunity to finally welcome Ukrainian into the European family and lock, once and for all, the Putin out. The ongoing elections in France have brought a lingering argument, especially pushed by Marine Lepen, the far-right candidate currently facing Macron in the second round (And trailing him in the polls).

She declared recently in an interview "We must prevent Russia from creating a super-alliance with China" as the main argument behind her rather awkward stance on the former's invasion of Ukraine. In spite of the fact that her party pushed forward amendments at the European parliament to sanction Russia, she keeps an attitude of "non-alignment" copied on Charles De Gaule's perception of France's role in the world. The message is clear, we do not support Russia's actions but condemning them too much would make us seem like we are the US's unequal partner. This vision is rooted in the need for French people to find dignity in the face of the 21st century's brutal globalization that has left many of them, and often the most vulnerable, poorer and facing increasingly tougher times. Yet, it is utterly misguided. Adopting a nuanced stance is often necessary, but comes the great tests of our times and this nuance quickly becomes self-aggrandising rhetoric instead of what is needed now: Resolution and courage. As a French citizen, I will support Emmanuel Macron for this election for I believe that his alternative will bring about a water-downed De Gaule's non-alignment that belongs to the past. Slava Ukrainia ????

France is in a process of questioning its identity, stuck between a globalist and a nationalist. It feeds certainly into what I want to talk about this week, the topic of "being on track". Last year I was at the lowest point in my life. I was fighting a battle with depression and OCD and was trying my best to finish my degree in the meantime. I was depressed, lonely, miserable and utterly lost. I ended up collapsing at the library. Had it not been for the quick reaction of medical officers and my friends who forced me on a week off I don't know what would have become of me. From that moment onward, I knew that something was broken, I had lost my way and I had to find a way back. I completed my degree and ditched my Master's program to take a gap year and seek to find myself. A year onward and what have I learned?

Many of the amazing people I have been meeting around me ask themselves this question (including myself): Am I on track?

Like a sportsman recovering from a broken leg, one keeps its mental fortitude knowing that one is on the path to recovery. However, as it is for the mind, it is often hard to find the right way to prepare what has been broken. Especially if one has been walking wrong for a long time. It is not simply healing the leg, it is learning from why it broke to learn to walk better. Thankfully, and it is human nature, we are geared toward avoiding as much as possible making the same mistakes. So are you on track? I don't know, I believe that the simple fact that you are asking yourself the question is enough, however. Let's face it, along the path you are taking to finding your direction, you will take big sideways steps. You will fail and you will struggle. Yet, as long as you keep asking yourself "Am I on track" and you allow yourself some space instead of pressuring yourself to be at the end of a path you have yet to take, you will be.

And you will keep growing, as long as you accept that the way forward is littered with stutters of your past but don't worry, you are moving forward.

This week's spotlight is on Zakaria Benkhaled, an individual with a most fascinating personal story.

à bon entendeur,

Steph