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“The lightning has shown me the scars of the future.”
Shock occasions change. Five years ago ROOM flashed into being as an immediate response to the 2016 US election. Psychoanalysts who had never written before felt compelled to write.
ROOM has remained a participatory community platform, grounded in a psychoanalytic understanding of how change happens. Each issue archives a new moment. Each is a “working-through” of that which has already passed.
But now we are struck anew. Russia's invasion of Ukraine occurred during the final weeks of production of this anniversary issue. Still, the questions posed by the contributors in ROOM 2.22 are eerily prescient and speak collectively for all of us. Each looks toward a future none can envision.
“What has really happened to us?”
“What am I called upon to do?”
“What do we do when there is no hope?”
“What is at stake for our future, our children? What kind of society do we want them to live in? What kind of people will they become? How will they live their lives?”
“Where do we belong? Where is our home or place? How do we see ourselves in this world?”
These are some of the questions posed by the mental health professionals, academics, poets, theologians, and artists in this anniversary issue. Each is looking toward a future none can envision.