empathy

The slight frostiness of 17°C seeped in through the glass, while the world blurred past, and the train unflinchingly galloped towards Oslo. A cup of lukewarm coffee sat next to my laptop, sending out inviting tendrils of steam, trying in vain to compete with the warmth of the day unfolding outside. The somber mood nestled within the carriage held no traces of the buoyant temperatures outside. We, like many others commuting to our daily lives, carried an invisible weight, the weight of the silent battles we fight.

Today, I am compelled to shed light on a topic – mental health, a subject that's often swept under the carpet, largely misunderstood, and always underestimated.

Opening up another tab on my laptop, unable to shake off the lingering melancholy, I just read a news article which reflected the inconvenient truth of today's society – the code of silence around mental health. It was as if an invisible HTML code had masked the real issue, driving the elephant in the room further into oblivion.

We view the world through the lens of our minds, steering us through life's challenges and joys. When our mental health suffers, so does our worldview, painting our experiences in muted shades of gray. A continuous struggle ensues, often quietly, behind closed doors or even amidst bustling crowds. And yet, like the HTML code unrecognizable by most, it remains an unspoken language, unresolved and often undetected.

Our mental well-being is just as crucial as our physical health or perhaps even more so. Each day as we toil away, striving for success and excellence, we must not leave behind the health of our minds, the fortress of our thoughts. We need to break free from the chains of societal expectations and stigmatization that shackle us into silence.

Each soul we cross paths with is waging an unseen battle, masked by brave faces and seemingly content lives. Instead of turning a deaf ear, we must strive to listen to the hushed whispers pleading for help. We must learn to appreciate and acknowledge the plethora of emotions that constitute our extraordinary human existence. Each conversation, each shared smile or tear, serves to bridge the gaping chasm of misunderstanding and isolation.

As I look around the train carriage, my fellow commuters immersed in their thoughts, I fight an urge to remind each one of them, and perhaps you, dear readers, as well - it's okay not to be okay. It's okay to take a breather, to seek help, to share your feelings. We need to normalize conversations about our mental health, replace judgement with empathy, scorn with understanding.

While, for many, the chilly 17°C outside might seem less than desirable, it is also a reminder that even in the coldest of times, the sun unveils itself, thawing the frost and painting a picture of optimism. As I journey towards Oslo, towards another day of unexpected narratives and histories, I am filled with a renewed sense of hope that pervades even the heaviest moments of loss. Amidst our shared stories of grief and resilience, may we find strength. For, awareness is the first step towards change, and that, is an empowering thought.

Tags: mental health awareness empathy

Under the glossy grey robe of an early morning drizzle, the city moves in hushed whispers and the occasional rumble of a train. A pallid landscape stretches for miles under a heavy ceiling of clouds, drearily reminiscent of a forgotten canvas. Its hues, watered down to muted tones of melancholia. The day starts with the temperature balancing precariously on 9°C, a soft chill caressing the world outside the comfort of the train.

Nestled in my usual window seat, I am allowing the scenery to blur into a meaningless panorama as I delve into the pressing pages of a news article. My eyes trace the lines of alphabets faithfully spelling out a terrifying tale from halfway across the world. A place with a different language, culture, and landscape, yet bound by the universal connotations these letters form. A place now blazing in the crimson hues of an untimely fire: Odesa.

In an unexpected second, the tranquility of the morning is discomfortingly peppered with distant echoes of an explosion. Brick, steel, and fear dance together in the flames, aided and fueled by an indiscriminate rocket attack. A warehouse, inconspicuous yesterday, lays bare today, sent into notoriety overnight. The specifics, unspoken in the article, linger in my mind, an unformed cloud of thoughts. The heat of the fire spreads, carried by my imagination, filling the cold void left by facts unmentioned.

Emergency services surge forth, ready to collar the flames but are helpless in calming the tidal wave of dread and the fierce despair that will follow suit. The casualties - real people, with lives and beating hearts and dreams - are now a question mark. A tear in the fabric of this story still unfolding to the rhythm of the clock.

My part as the reader merely underlines my powerlessness, except to immerse in remote solidarity, feeling the edges of an aftermath I will never fully comprehend. Fire, so comforting in a Norwegian winter, becomes an unspeakable horror in someone else's context, painting a stark image I see only through the lens of black ink on newsprint.

Her stance on current social issues, so often spoken about, is now drowned in the ceaseless hum of the moving train. The imposed silence in this moment poses a harsh contrast to the loud screams in Odesa that go, seemingly, unheard. Unsure, introverted, and somewhat forlorn, I realize that empathy is too often a one-way street - with its lanes bordered by privileged ignorance. In our evolving world, empathy alone isn't enough. It begs to be reinforced by thoughtful actions, and not half-formed feelings detached from reality.

The arrival at Oslo server almost as a rude interruption, a heartless reminder of my world unaffected by distant tragedies. Another day begins, with a brewing coffee, a room full of words, and the familiar faces of academia; still, the forlorn words from miles away cling to my heartstrings. As I write, the Odesa fire finds a place in my blog, forever etched in my memories — a heart-rending paradox of the world's interconnectedness and its isolating apathy. The emptiness in the hearts of those affected, and even in those who merely observe from afar, lingers like a haunting melody.

Tags: world news empathy current events