Fences

 To limit my time on Twitter, I have an online timer downloaded to my browser which blocks the site after it runs out. Every day since Oct. 7, I have been by-passing the timer by logging on to Twitter through the Incognito mode no my browser (Yes, Incognito mode has other uses, apart from facilitating porn-watching). Today, for the first time, I respected the timer. The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. Israel's aerial bombardment hasn't stopped, and its ground invasion is proving bloody for both sides. Even once the bombardment stops, all signs point to a bloody quagmire in Gaza and the West Bank that my last months if not years. I wrote this blog nearly a month ago about how this struggle is going to be a long haul, and the need to pace myself and get on with life while continuing to participate in the protests. I finally feel like my heart is where my head was a month ago. The situation in Gaza continues to be foremost in my thoughts, but I feel like I have managed to put a fence around it to stop it from overwhelming me. Yes, I plan to be as active as I have been, but the big change will be cutting down on how much headspace I give this issue in the rest of my time. A part of this is down to me now having a set of concrete deadlines (job application, prep for trip to India) as opposed to the more open-ended timeline of writing academic papers. But, I suppose that I also needed to come to terms with the events since Oct. 7, which were unprecedented in so many ways that even someone like me who doesn't know any Israelis or Palestinians personally and who is not prone to activism found myself engulfed in them. Another example of time being the best salve.