Context Is Everywhere #4

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In Today's Email  ✍️ Short-Short | 🇷🇺/🇺🇦 Historian | 🇷🇺/🇺🇦 Podcast Ep

Half-Paralyzed All the Time? Or Full-Paralyzed Half the Time? 

These years I have spent as a semi-paraplegic were some of my best. My relationships grew deeper and my perspective grew broader. People often ask me if I would make the same decision knowing what I now know, and my answer is always the same. No, I would never have played Would You Rather on Halloween night in a cemetery. But yes, I would indeed rather be fully paralyzed for half the day than be half-paralyzed for the full day.

Of course I didn't know my response would be binding, but lo and behold I awoke on November 1st fully paralyzed. By dinner time I was mobile once again, and the next day and every day hence the pattern has repeated. At first my wife and I went to all the doctors and specialists you would expect us to have gone to. Soon thereafter we began with psychiatrists, then alternative medicine men, and eventually even to members of the clergy. After a while the only thing left to do was accept my fate. I was fully paralyzed every day for half the day, and that was that.

I reoriented my schedule around my paralysis, so most of my paralyzed time is spent asleep. The real problems occur when something unexpected happens and I find myself too far from home as 9:00am approaches. I'm like Cinderella running from the ball, except instead of my carriage turning into a pumpkin, my body vacates its solid and liquid waste and I lose my ability to swallow. I'll try to find a motel room or have a friend pick me up if I have time to coordinate. Once, I spent 12-hours on the floor of a Popeye's bathroom around the block from my house.

I tell you all this for a simple reason. If you see someone in an electric wheelchair with assistive equipment for breathing, don't assume that that is all they are. Ask them about their life. It's entirely possible that it is richer, fuller, and more unexpected than you could ever imagine. And don't hesitate to tip them over and wait to see what happens. They might just surprise you.

🇷🇺/🇺🇦 Tomas Pueyo gained recognition by reporting on COVID way before anybody else was. More recently, he called the Russian invasion when everybody else thought it was impossible. Reading his articles is like talking to someone who's really good at Risk explaining exactly why Russia had to invade. This article is a great place to start. Check out more at his Substack, Uncharted Territories.

🇷🇺/🇺🇦 It's a pleasure to see someone in their 20s doing exactly what they want to do at the highest levels. Saagar Enjeti and Marshall Kosloff are those guys for political commentary. Their podcast, The Realignment, is about how the political parties are built around solutions that no longer address the problems we have. Formerly a reporter covering the CIA and a researcher at PBS, respectively, their youth belies their stinging and insightful commentary. This episode about Russia/Ukraine is a great place to start.

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Michael Weber is a writer and former Head Of Previously On's at HBO. If you received this email, you signed up for his newsletter at some point. If you'd like to unsubscribe, you must first find somebody else to replace you.