As an eastern(-ish) European[1] with fuzzy memories of experiencing a small war as a ~4 year old kid, this has been extremely hard to watch. Even though I live

As an eastern(-ish) European[1] with fuzzy memories of experiencing a small war as a ~4 year old kid, this has been extremely hard to watch. Even though I live in USA now, I don’t remember ever being this affected by a news cycle. Wednesday evening when the news of totally-not-invasion first broke was tough. Thursday was basically a write off. Friday was luckily so busy I didn’t have time for interneting. Ultimately what worked was to remind myself all this is outside the sphere of my influence, there’s nothing actionable I can do, and following minute-by-minute news is just giving someone else free reign of my mind. Don’t need people’s hot takes and armchair analysis. A daily balanced report from a proper journalist outfit is enough. edit: What has also helped was deciding early on that should this go beyond Ukraine into the rest of Europe, I’m flying my family out immediately. There’s only 918 miles by road between Kyiv and where my family lives. Making that decision in advance and with clear pull-the-trigger criteria makes it easier to stop stressing. [^1] Slovenia