Greetings from Madeira!
The Ukraine is tragically aflame at the moment, and, like the pandemic, all nodes in the information network are being consumed by it. Normally I prefer not to comment on politics whenever possible; hospitality and travel fall within the scope of my expertise; geopolitics, not so much. That said, I feel a comment is warranted and I will throw my hat into the fray.
I believe that all that travel and meeting people from all corners of the globe has given me a strong sense for human decency and ethical behaviour, and I find the crisis in the Ukraine offensive on both fronts.
The brilliant inventor Nikola Tesla called war 'the greatest of all retarding forces' when it comes to the evolution of humanity; a colossal expenditure of energy committed to the destruction of life, and one that sets us back in our collective development as a species.
Indeed war represents the ultimate in 'separateness' thinking, and to this end it is at odds with the direction of nearly every other aspect of human life.
The ongoing climate crisis, social media, the global economy, science with regards to Quantum Mechanics; all of these developments are suggesting - with increasing speed and urgency - that we are in fact far more connected than our individual perceptions would have us believe, and to behave otherwise is at our collective peril.
All of this begs the question, then - what are you and I supposed to do about this situation? We are (thankfully) far removed from the immediate battlefield, and we have little to no individual agency to affect the situation.
But, since neither ignorance nor helplessness are effective states of mind, I think we can focus on ones that are.
First and foremost, I think a commitment to staying emotionally and mentally balanced is appropriate. The business model of the news prints money by instilling fear in the minds of masses, and yet one can stay informed without giving in to fear mongering or hopelessness.
It is helpful to be an amplifier of positive energy when many others opt to be mouthpieces for negativity, not just for yourself but also for others around you. We don't yet know the impact our collective thinking has on the outcomes of world events, but we very well may find out in years to come that the health of our collective consciousness is very important in this respect.
We have built this travel community around values of connectedness, learning, and an emphasis on discovery of the shared experience of life all over the world. All of these values are completely on the other end of the spectrum from what war represents, and thus I feel the crisis the Ukraine has only strengthened my resolve to continue doing what we do.
It makes me proud to bring Canadians around the world, and prouder still that we do so with a conscious effort to consider how we engage and interact with the people we meet while travelling.
If all we can do about the unfolding situation in the Ukraine is engage in more kindness and thoughtful behaviour where we are, then in the very least let us do that.
The beginning of things there has not been pretty, but that doesn't mean it won't end well. I do not think there's much appetite (outside of a few rooms in Moscow) for a wider conflict, and perhaps it may even unite us all more than before when it's all said and done.
Please keep your thoughts positive, particularly for those suffering in the Ukraine. Don't let the darkness on TV snuff out your light...we still have many fun things ahead of us to look forward to.
P.S. Two small notes on things around here at Wheel & Anchor:
- We once again had a conflict with travel and a webinar and have had to move our Malta webinar to March 17; my apologies for the confusion.
- We'll be switching to a new email system very soon that will hopefully solve all the problems we've had with the current one. Please bear with us until we get it all smoothed out - the look may change slightly but the mission remains the same 🙂
Cheers!
Gordon Dreger
Founder, Wheel & Anchor
Gordon Dreger is the founder of Wheel & Anchor and has been in the travel industry for over 30 years. Travel is a self-expression for him, and there is nothing he likes more than talking about travel and sharing all of the joys of it with others.
Leave a comment!