Hello from the other side.
To you reading this, I'd just like to congratulate you on making it through.
It's been a year since I last sent this out. I'm in Singapore, where I've been for far too long. It's a bit of an anomaly here; restaurants are open, live performances are starting to be put on again... It doesn't feel similar to what most of the world seems to be like. But I'd like to add a caveat that this bubble also feels like it might pop any time. Its sheer size warrants an interdependency that means we will reach our limits in the race to normalcy. The only question is when. But what do I really know; I'm an artist with an undergraduate international relations degree of which I have a vague memory. Something something realism in a neo-liberal world order something something.
Like many humans, I was in self-preservation mode for much of the year. I struggled with the idea of productivity and what it meant to sustain a practice when even the thought of abiding by pre-pandemic norms seemed violent. I don't know about you, but there were (many) days when I could barely form thoughts. My brain felt short-circuited. Engaging deeply felt important but strenuous, and I felt the need to choose gentleness on myself. I just tried to be a helpful human being whenever I could.
I spent a lot of my time paring my life down to corporealities. I went on as many walks as I could. I cycled. I did yoga and pilates every day (I have biceps now, mmkay). These actions, rooted in the sensorial, helped me get outside the cloistered room of my head. Also, I learned never to underestimate the power of love and friendship. I hope you have this around you too.
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