@Nolus:
I'm so stressed out and tired from so many sources that this war has sort of slipped into the background of my mind. It helps that I only read the news in either Finnish or Swedish (for language practice), so that puts an even bigger distance between me and the events. My heart still sank when I saw a picture of a demolished theatre building (before the destruction) with "CHILDREN" written in Russian on the ground next to it. To say nothing of the shelled maternity ward and some other brutally heartwrenching photos…
I'm kinda wrestling with guilt over not donating to or helping the refugees in any way, but I'm not in a position where I can afford that right now. I will barely be able to save enough money for myself seeing inflation soaring and the Forint just kinda digging itself deeper day by day.
Something that's helped me is thinking of my grandma. She lived through WWII as a teenager in Sweden, so she was never directly involved in the war but must've still felt an incredible worry. And despite everything she made it out fine. She married, had children and lived a good life. I wouldn't have wanted her to feel wrecked with guilt over a war she couldn't control, or to stop enjoying her life even as the countries around her faced destruction. I'd want her to be as happy as possible, live her life as normal as possible. In a way, I see that as one of the strongest resistances we have against war. It might sound silly or clichéd, but living your life as usual is a way to show the middle finger to that prick Putin that he can't screw us over with fear. And if worst comes to worst and we get dragged into this mess, I'd rather have spent these days happy than worrying. There's nothing I can do about the future, so let's enjoy the present while it's still peaceful.
I also think about what kind of information she must've heard. Without any internet, I don't know how the newspapers even reflected the war or what the neighbours talked about. But she certainly wasn't as updated as we are now. So if you feel the need to step away from the news, while it might make one feel guilty, I think it's also human. We weren't built to be drip fed news about catastrophes. I've shut myself off from the news for a while, only taking a quick peek every 2-3 days. At first it hurt a lot, like I was turning away, but since then I've noticed a huge improvement in my own mental health. It's a habit I'm going to keep, war or no war.
I sympathize with feeling guilt about not helping as well, it's hard to rationalize it without feeling like you're betraying people. But in the end we have our own lives. I have literally no income at the moment, I'm wrestling with my mental health and family problems and I know from experience I'm awful at dealing with people in any situation. I need my own little safe bubble I can retreat to, cut off from society, if I don't I fall apart. Maybe once I get income again I'll see if I can't donate somewhere, but for now I need to focus on keeping myself in one piece instead of being a broken person trying to help other broken people. Gods know I've had enough of that in a more personal context.
So whatever you do don't beat yourself up about it. You have your own life and you have the right to focus on that.