Explore the Archives
A Journal of the Plague Year Arizona Collection Australia Boston Bronx Community College New York Brooklyn College New York Canada Las Americas Lockdown Staten Island New Orleans Oral Histories Philippines Sacramento Community Based Organizations Southwest Stories Teaching the Pandemic The City College of New York

Collected Item: “Pots, Plants, and Pleasure”

Give your story a title.

Pots, Plants, and Pleasure

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

Photograph

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

Over the quarantine, I saw how my sister picked up an interest in gardening, specifically for her small, pot plants that now sit in my living room on a shelf. To me, those plants symbolize mental clarity; the fact that she found a new hobby taught me that I myself need a place of tranquility and healing. Knowing me, I tend to overwork myself and never have any moment of relaxation, and when I do, I feel that I am not accomplishing anything. My life has gotten mundane over the past quarantine, but to fill in this empty space, I played video games with my friends. Despite the suffocation stemmed from sitting in my room for almost a year, I found a way to find some pleasure. This all derived from the simple, yet complex way my sister found to cope with her emtpiness---that is, tending to some plants that bring life amidst a dark period. Coming out of the pandemic evoked a sense of emptiness again because it made me realize how mechanistic life is; living feels artificial and mundane. As a high schooler right now, I experience this empty-like feeling, and all I want to do is find some pleasure to cope with my desolation. It is strange because I was comfortable coming out of a pandemic, but now, all I want to do is shelter myself in a pot.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#APUSH,#GARDENGROVEHIGHSCHOOL,#UNIQUE,#SPECIAL

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Sister

Give this story a date.

2021-11-28
Click here to view the corresponding item.