So, I got pulled into collaborating on the creation of #journalcare by long-time friend, school "wife", art-mate, inspiration, Michelle. There was no kicking and screaming…. there never is…. I just said "sure".  I went scrounging through my art stash for some kind of book to use. I found an old Japanese handmade book that was a sample from when I worked at Pearl paint in New York one summer back in college. I don't know why I saved the book all these years. But when I counted, it had 30 pages. It was meant to be. The cover is damaged and some of the pages have stickers and writing and discoloration. But it just seems like the right book to use when I'm stuck being separate and distant from my family, my students, my friends, and neighbors. I will “hack” (or as I say “wreck”) this book as I go.

 

I feel like the book needs to start in Chinese. The virus Started in China, and there have been so many negatives about China. There are people there just as worried, suffering incredible loss, and they are the butt of our jokes and anger. I am always disheartened by the amount of prejudice there is. I don’t know that humans can change, but I always hope that they will. I choose to surround myself with people who are accepting, and I focus on instilling that in others.  On my “wish” day, I wish for my favorite Chinese restaurant to re-open. I am actually going to translate this first entry using a translation program. So if you read Chinese it may not be very accurate. 

 

I am fortunate to have a husband and two dogs to keep me active and company. We still get along with each other. Knowing that we're home going into the summer, it seems like an incredibly long time. But we'll get through. Things like Google Meet, Facebook Messenger video chats, and Zoom have made this whole process much easier to deal with. I think Social Distancing would have been near impossible without the technology that we have today. I think about the Great Depression and the flu of 1918 when there was no way to know day to day how everyone was fairing.