Homeland

What does "reach for the light" mean to me? At first, I saw two meanings in this expression. The first one is to never give up and go straight for your goals. After all, even in seemingly hopeless situations, you can find a way to solve your problems. The second is to see hope for the best in bad situations, to look for ways to improve.

Today's situation in Ukraine is an example of that. Millions of us, Ukrainians, were forced to go abroad, fleeing the war. We were scattered around the world against our will. But, even in these trying times, we try not to just live on, but also to live qualitatively, to set goals for ourselves, to achieve them, to reach for the light. For some of us, this is a unique opportunity to get to Canada, to get a work permit because, under usual circumstances, this was an impossible dream for many. It can be called a great fortune that our children now have the opportunity to grow and grow up in a society that is more focused on quality relationships between people.

Through the darkness of our thoughts, we try to reach the light of hope. For this, we all work on ourselves every day: on a psychological level, on a professional level, by improving our language skills, and by integrating into society. The only aspect that is not in our control yet is planning - we stopped making plans for the future, we live for today.

However, continuing to think about the situation in Ukraine, I realized another meaning of the expression “reach for the light” - the literal meaning. Russia is currently bombing my country: civilian objects and critical infrastructure. All of Ukraine is now literally on fire and in complete darkness. So, with this in mind and inspired by this topic, I wrote a little poem:

In the dark, but without you,
Russia. The fight against you is the truth.
Through the darkness of thoughts,
We try to reach the light of hope.
Ukraine will pass through the night.
And we all will reach for the light!

In Ukraine we say, "The darkest night is always before the dawn." I sincerely believe that our dawn will come soon. And we will all manage to reach for the light! Each of us will reach for our personal light!