Sometimes I try to imagine if I would be able to create new things during times of war.
I hope that I will never live during times of war. I do not wish anyone to live during times of chaos, conflicts, crises, wars, or pandemics. Still, the coronavirus pandemic showed us that such crises are an inevitable and inseparable part of humans’ lives. Emil Zola, the French novelist, also did not have the luck to live in peaceful times. Zola, in one of his letters to Paul Cezanne, wrote that despite the armed conflicts (the Franco-Prussian war [1870-1871] and the Paris Commune [1871]), he was still active when it comes to writing. Sometimes I wonder if I would continue to create new things (e.g., photographs, texts, “Diaries”) despite armed conflicts. I want to stress that I would prefer not to check it out.
As a curiosity, I would like to add that Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in his self-published work, named a “Writer’s Diary,” described the Franco-Prussian war from his personal and Russian perspective.
I must admit that I do not remember anything special from this Dostoyevsky’s historical writings. Contemporary for Russian writer political topics were themes that did not arouse any interest in me. Dostoyevsky’s description of current political issues in Europe was boring to me. I did not read them with pleasure. Those writings were exemptions. These exceptions prove that the rest of the Russian writer’s essays were on the highest level.
I wrote this text during the time of peace, not during times of war. Still, I wrote them during the coronavirus pandemic. The truth is that issues connected with COVID-19 did not change anything regarding my attitude towards writing and creating. I do not wish anyone to write and to create during times of war. I hope, my Dear Friend, that you also have a peaceful life, as I do.
