When I decided to write 80 memories for 80 years, I also thought of the time it would take to post such memories. So I started writing early. That is, I took out a paper and wrote 80 words that might cue me about possible vignettes. That is what I call doing things early.
I sorted my list alphabetically, not caring which ideas might be more important than others. I didn’t think the weight of my project out that well. I hadn’t considered that sometimes the words would flow from my fingers, and that sometimes the words would be excruciatingly painful to write –so much so that days would go by when I could only think about the process, not how to get the ideas that were blocking me down on paper.
And of course I had no idea that in the middle of all of that, a pandemic would emerge, slowly making its way around the world, eventually to the place where I live.
My world has shifted.
Thus, I must interrupt my former list. Now I am posting as one of the memories for 80 years, entering the world of a pandemic.
I didn’t know how carefully I would start to listen to the advice of government health officials.
I didn’t know how much attention I would pay to the simple act of washing my hands.
I hadn’t ever considered the importance of the act of social distancing.
I hadn’t thought how to sift out the science-based information around me from words that are fraught with fear and anxiety.
History will write much about the pandemic of 2020.
I am counting it as making the list of eighty important memories in eighty years.
Arta
I sorted my list alphabetically, not caring which ideas might be more important than others. I didn’t think the weight of my project out that well. I hadn’t considered that sometimes the words would flow from my fingers, and that sometimes the words would be excruciatingly painful to write –so much so that days would go by when I could only think about the process, not how to get the ideas that were blocking me down on paper.
And of course I had no idea that in the middle of all of that, a pandemic would emerge, slowly making its way around the world, eventually to the place where I live.
My world has shifted.
Thus, I must interrupt my former list. Now I am posting as one of the memories for 80 years, entering the world of a pandemic.
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| This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). (CDC via AP, File) |
I didn’t know how much attention I would pay to the simple act of washing my hands.
I hadn’t ever considered the importance of the act of social distancing.
I hadn’t thought how to sift out the science-based information around me from words that are fraught with fear and anxiety.
History will write much about the pandemic of 2020.
I am counting it as making the list of eighty important memories in eighty years.
Arta
Some days it all seems surreal. Other days it feels horribly real. Other days I have moments of forgetting that the world has changed, like when I am immersed in a D&D session with friends.
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear more about what happened to your family during the Polio outbreak in Alberta, but that may not have made your key word list.
Thank you for doing the hard work of writing about Covid-19.
I will be happy to write about my memories of that polio outbreak. Thank you for asking.
ReplyDeleteConcerning that surreal feeling? Sometimes I wonder why I am sitting at home, writing about the trivial of my life when there is something really wrong going on. I was heartened to read Lorraine Wright's new post on her blog, the post that tells us how to manage 5 fears we might have during this pandemic. At one point in her article she points out that for some of us, our job is self-distancing, and self-isolation if we have been travelling. So every day I remind myself that I am doing my part and I must trust that is enough.
ReplyDelete