My Year 2022
This year started with worries about the possible escalation of the war in Ukraine, which then changed me forever with its new cruel, meaningless, and malicious turn in February.
The full scale invasion in Ukraine by RF is the worst thing I ever experienced.
The war started for me in 2014 when my beautiful birth city was violently turned into a military gray zone. And in 2022, the Russian Federation was bombing all cities, letting its brutal army commit atrocities on Ukrainian land, one war crime after another, killing, kidnapping, raping, expelling, and terrorizing my people. I was watching all the footage uncensored.
I could not drive for the first days of the invasion, I was shaking and could barely see. I was crying and shouting into the void every morning for the first weeks or months. I had no expectations to feel joy ever again. I considered going fighting if needed (I could shoot well in military training long ago). I tried doing some helpful things, primarily with money for medical help to soldiers. To save my own sanity, I continued to study full-time, 12 units with labs and exhibits, and the people around me kept me afloat just by their presence and kindness (thank you, everyone).
In the spring semester, I was studying design and color, digital media, was in a professional art practice course, met many practicing artists, got intogroup exhibitions and won a few first prizes. Each Friday, I spend painting in watercolor for 6 hours in a group with critique sessions. BTW, I have almost collapsed in the first days of war in an office of one of the professors who then reffered me to a psychologist, so I had a couple of sessions with a Lithuanian master-student I chose.
By the mid-Summer, I finally saw the way to liberation - hopefully of Donetsk as well - and to victory...
In the Fall cemester, I took antropology from a PhD who turned out not to be a great scientist to learn from, along with human development psychology from another Phd, a catholic and father of many children, who turned out alright. I was doing life figure again, joined a scriptwriting group and another non-credit life-story writing class, both with cool people.
