As the Christmas and New Year holidays approach, more and more Ukrainians are asking themselves whether they have the moral right to rejoice and be merry while the war is on. Vitaly Lunev, an academician at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, assures us that being happy even in times of trouble is an art that we should not be ashamed of.
Psychologist Vitaly Lunyov urges Ukrainians not to forget about holidays even during the war
According to the academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, he is very surprised by the feeling of guilt among Ukrainians for celebrating those holidays that are integral elements of our culture.
If there is a holiday or an event that happens synchronously every year or after a certain period of time, why is there a feeling of guilt for the opportunity to rejoice, to synchronise everything in one social time? This is very surprising to me as a psychologist. From the very beginning, it looks like speculation on the background of our feelings about the ability to experience joy and happiness, bliss, mood — whatever.
Vitaly Lunyov draws attention to the fact that no person can live indefinitely in the paradigm of war.
On the contrary, Ukrainians should return to the paradigm of normal life, despite the active hostilities at the front.
According to the psychologist, the ban on enjoying moments of happiness during the holiday season is a way to pathologise relationships between people.
It is important to understand that despite the fact that most Ukrainians are in the rear, they perceive and experience the events of the war in much the same way as our defenders on the battlefield.
The academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences notes that many members of the Armed Forces have much better psychological indicators than their wives, family members and friends.
The fact is that our defenders have already adapted to the situation we can only imagine and are so afraid of.
That is why, from a psychological point of view, not only soldiers in the trenches, but also Ukrainians in the rear have the right to rest, to a holiday break.
Is the Christmas tree or any other attribute of the holiday somehow connected with the devaluation of the heroic path of our soldiers? No, it doesn't.
Ukrainians should strive for happiness even in the most terrible periods of their history
According to Vitaliy Lunev, no one should impose on Ukrainians what they should feel and when they should feel it, because feelings, mood, and worldview are an individual choice of each of us.
Moreover, a person should be proud of the ability to maintain a taste for life even in the most difficult times.
It is the art of feeling happy in the face of unhappiness. How can we ban it?.. We are constantly being bombarded from everywhere, and why should we traumatise ourselves by banning the expression of feelings?
According to the psychologist, even amid the war, parents have no right to take away the festive mood from themselves and their children.
Any holidays are primarily associated with the fact that people begin to feel social time more clearly.
It is this that allows soldiers and civilians - people from different dimensions - to feel the unity of inseparability again.
Each of us should feel responsible for our own feelings and not forbid ourselves to do what we want.
