51 Ways to Fight, Flight, or Freeze My Way Through Gulf War III
Most of us learn about our sympathetic nervous system’s fight or flight response pretty early on. In recent years, freeze and fawn were added to the mix, and rightfully so as sometimes you literally can't even.
In general, we're not really forced to confront our own instincts until we go to therapy, experience an ayahuasca retreat, have a come to Jesus moment, or weather a pandemic.
Being thrown into Gulf War III has forced a new level of reflection about the ways I handle stress, build community, or face hard conversations.
Similar to #quaranteaching, there's some fear of the future, worry about loved ones, remote learning, and a massive distortion of time. Unlike Covid times, this conflict only impacts part of the world (obviously, this is not accurate but folks are acting like it). In the UAE, we're off/on sheltering-in-place and living a “normal” routine. My students are scattered across time zones. Workers are still working, albeit modified hours and interruptions from warning alarms and interception debris. Most importantly, it seems like there's a compartmentalization and detachment from the actual far reaching impact of this war, but that's for another post.
With that for context, I present to you a list of activities that filled my time during this five star war experience. In no particular order:
Wake up and check what stupid thing the President did or said while I was asleep
Pray for the people in various countries who are suffering from this unnecessary war
Drink my morning dose of Creatine & Elderberry/Vitamin C water
Find my Covid attendance notebook & set up pages to track engagement for remote learning
Teach AP Literature and AP Psychology in a Google Meet
Track the timing of intercepted drones throughout the day and review Ministry of Defense stats
Drink water
Watch Hijack with Idris “aging like fine wine” Elba
Respond to texts and messages from friends & family
Laugh at videos my sisters sent
Choke on my 5HTP, B-complex, L-Theanine, and probiotic supplement tablets
Catch up on Love is Blind, Season 10 (Chris, are you for real?)
Brainstorm with my mom about her chapel lesson
Set a glass of water next to Nate
Modify my lessons to create opportunities for responses in the chat, breakout sessions or collaborative docs
Work my way through Oscar best picture nominees & talk crap about them in the group chat (OBAA is trash)
Message my friends “have you had any water today?”
Listen to the call to prayer and remember it's Ramadan
Enjoy the Second Annual Al Ain Tower Ramadan Film Festival (rotating apartments, rotating hosts, rotating Oscar nominated films)
Make a charcuterie board to take to the film festival
Learn the difference between a drone sound, fighter jet rev, and a sports car engine.
Spend a little longer in child’s pose
Pay my credit card bill
Send Reels making fun of Dubai influencers & other UAE specific war humor
Refill our Brita & top up the pitcher of cold water in the fridge
Say a few more prayers for people I know around the world, but especially in Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi
Sign up for meal delivery for a colleague who gave birth last week
Push myself through more workouts by @JustMove until my anxiety decreases slightly
Visit the dentist for treatment of ongoing molar trouble (btw, they had an opening at 11pm! That’s the beauty of Ramadan)
Stare at my phone
Pack an all-weather “go bag”
Water all the house plants
Go for a walk along the Arabian Gulf until the incoming warning alarm sounds and duck into a pedestrian tunnel
Pick up an extra month of asthma medication
Try to read a book (with little success)
Repack my go-bag to fit more outfits (a girl needs options)
Use one of the sixteen different loose leaf teas I’ve acquired to make ice tea
Call apartment maintenance to fix the electrical panel in the kitchen
Casually grab a pack of bottled water every time I go to the grocery store
Bake Hungry Paprikas’ Sumac Chicken (ya’ll, it’s sooooo delicious)
Get a pedicure and chat with my nail lady about how she's handling everything
Make the viral “dumpling lasagna” with beef and chicken rather than pork
Enjoy iftar and laughter with friends
Pop over to our neighborhood bar for happy hour
Check emails to see if our flight to Thailand is cancelled
Research apartments in Thailand on Airbnb and cross check Booking for deals and free cancellation
Text my dad about tax paperwork
Unpack my “go bag” in order to pack my #springbreak2026 luggage
Offer a whispered prayer on our way to the Dubai Airport
I'm sure you can figure out which responses are more flight, which ones have an iota of fight, and where I'm simply freezing. While insecure, short-sighted men continue to destroy UNESCO heritage sites and decimate neighborhoods, I’ll still be over here wishing, hoping, and praying this all ends sooner than later.