A friend yesterday forwarded a link to a New York Times article about people keeping diaries and journals during this pandemic.
I’d been thinking about doing it, but hadn’t been able to bring myself to actually start writing.
I’ve been doing what they tell us to do: social distancing, washing my hands, working from home. My sketch group met last week online to chat and sketch together. Friends and I have doing video chats to keep in touch.
It’s all been sort of low-key. I mean, I live alone. I don’t have kids to home school or a spouse using the home office.
Much of the time, I like being alone. It’s peaceful. All this time at home means I can start to chip away at the To Do list that I’ve neglected.
I’m drawing, sketching. Making small collages. Little stuff.
For the most part, the impact on me has been mild. Yes, my business is closed and my side jobs are shut down. I’m lonely sometimes, and not sleeping well. But I’m healthy, warm, and fed. The internet connection is solid, my table is piled with of art supplies, and there’s plenty to do. I am very fortunate.
Yet I am not writing any of it down. Writing is how I process my thoughts, clarify my thinking. Make sense of what’s happening in my head.
Writing makes it real, you know?
After reading the article, I glanced over at the kitchen counter where I’d propped these 2 collages. I made them early this year. When I packed up supplies from my studio to bring home, they accidentally got mixed up in the papers and came along.
I am fascinated with hands and hand prints, the symbolism of hands. You can see some others from my 100 Day Project (starting around Day 85) here.
I made these 2 collages because I liked the imagery, the idea of beautiful things coming from our hands. About gifts we can offer from hardworking hands.
But now I look at them with the added perspective of our concerns about hand washing, about keeping everyone safe by being careful with our hands.
Sigh.
Guess it’s time to break out the journal and start writing. This is a memorable time in our lives, after all.
Are you keeping a journal of your thoughts and experiences during this time? Are you writing, drawing, making art?
