Jul 12, 2025
Holding Steady When the World Shakes
ART
Forget what the movies show you. War isn’t glory or medals. There’s nothing noble in the wreckage. There’s no pride in the aftermath.Conflict isn’t banners and anthems. It’s collapsed buildings, burnt skin, names you don’t get to say goodbye to. It’s the smell of metal and ash in the air for weeks. No camera catches that part.You don’t need a headline to know a city has been hit. You just look up. Buildings lean at impossible angles. You walk past what used to be someone’s home, now just a metal frame. In Tehran, there were mornings when the skyline looked wrong — streets I knew now wearing scars. A conflict doesn’t just take lives. It distorts space. It wipes out the familiar until even home feels like a stranger. That’s what life has been like here lately.
It’s been a while since I last showed up here.
Due to the current situation in Iran and frequent internet disruptions, I’ve had to pause my online presence. A lot has been happening — outside and inside.
These past weeks have been difficult for many. Like so many others, I’ve been processing the grief, shock, and uncertainty brought by conflict. I’m deeply sorry for the lives lost and the pain endured. I hope for healing — for individuals, communities, and for the soul of this country.
Through it all, I’ve done my best to stay balanced. Some days were heavier than others, but I’ve kept steady.
While navigating these events, I focused on two things:
Keeping my internal systems intact.
Speaking up whenever possible.
In my neighborhood, during the height of power shutdowns, I remember seeing a single candle flickering in a window across from mine. Small, almost invisible — but it stood out. That candle felt like what I was trying to be: a steady light when everything else was dark.
Social media accounts were blocked. Messages couldn’t get through. And yet, even in that, I kept showing up: writing offline, building ideas, preparing systems for when the connection returned.
That image — one small light in the middle of blackout — stayed with me. It wasn’t about big speeches or grand actions. It was about holding your ground quietly, deliberately, until the storm passes.
Holding Strength in Unstable Times
Crisis hits in waves. First comes the event. Then comes the emotions: fear, confusion, anger. I saw it around me every day. Friends stopped going to work. Shops closed early. The streets fell quiet. It was like the entire city was holding its breath. Everyone was waiting — for news, for calm, for something solid to stand on again.Some people slip into sadness and paralysis. That response is human. But I made a deliberate choice not to let that happen to myself.Instead of sitting in front of blank screens, endlessly scrolling, I focused on daily structure. Kept long-term goals in sight, even if they felt far away. Spent time learning, building small things, little notes, ideas for the future. And most importantly — keeping my family calm, especially my little sisters. I joked with them. Made them feel safe.It’s not about ignoring reality. It’s about functioning inside it. Like an engineer keeping the core systems running during a storm. That’s how I see it.
The Importance of Using Your Voice
Staying steady inside is one thing. But outside — silence wasn’t an option. I tried sharing what was happening here on Twitter. Simple, honest updates. No politics. Just reality. But things disappeared fast. Posts vanished. Accounts locked for no clear reason. It made me realize how fragile these platforms really are.That’s what pushed me toward the BlueSky platform — not as some dramatic move, but as a necessary adjustment. When governments act destructively or when media distorts the truth, it’s on regular people to keep saying what’s real. Not shouting. Not choosing sides blindly. Just conscious speech.Silence feels safer sometimes. But it protects systems that don’t deserve protecting. Calm, steady voices are what really shift things.If you’re reading this and want to stay connected, you can find me on BlueSky.
Here’s where I am these days: https://bsky.app/profile/lilyraya.blog
No ads, no agenda — just a quieter place to keep conversations alive.
Two Things That Matter Most
If there are two things I’d offer to anyone moving through uncertain times — whether geopolitical, personal, or professional — they are these:
Stay steady. The world may shake, but you don’t have to. Your internal system matters. Don’t let it be reprogrammed by temporary chaos.
Use your voice. Don’t hold back from speaking up for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth.
I’m hopeful for quieter days ahead. My thoughts are with those we’ve lost, and with everyone still carrying the weight of it all. May there be healing — for each person, for every community, and for the spirit of this country.