Items

• 
  2023-03-15

  Kit Heintzman Oral History, 2023/03/15

  Kit Heintzman is a recovering academic currently residing in Lenapehoking, who was trained in the medical humanities with a special interest in queer theory, animals, and the history of nationalism. Kit has developed a singular collection of oral histories of the pandemic for A Journal of the Plague Year, collected from a range of individuals with widely diverse experiences. That collection addresses significant silences surrounding the pandemic broadly and within JOTPY more narrowly. In this item Kit is interviewed by Angelica and Erin, both with Arizona State University, about Kits collection process.
• 
  2022-04-07

  Ways of Prevention

  This is an infographic on Instagram posted by fairhavenhealthcare. This infographic advises people to: use tissues when sneezing or coughing; wash hands often; refrain from crowded places; not to touch hands, mouth, or eyes; follow recommendations from healthcare providers; and get vaccinated.
• 2020

  Finding Time

  Over the last five or so years, I've been dreaming about some event that would stir up some excitement in New York City, preferably some good event, but an event nonetheless. Never did I dream that it would actually come true, unfortunately in the form of a worldwide pandemic. Why couldn't it be something more fun, like aliens (although it seems like we might be getting there)? While the pandemic didn't bring anything exciting per se, it brought some change with it. When it began to be taken more seriously last year (2020), when all the shutdowns began to occur, I saw a major change in my day to day life. From being laid off of work, not being able to go to classes in-person anymore, and not being able to see any friends in person either, the normal, repetitive life that I had gotten so used to had disintegrated within just a couple weeks, if not shorter. It forced me to look at things in a different light, and as I was forced to be by myself for most of it, as we all were, I felt as if I needed to find some positivity and motivation in the few things I could do and had control over. I finally had time to focus on myself and made sure things like my physical/mental health and education were a priority. I took up cycling, as it was one way for me to be active and remain safe because it's not really something you need to do with others, and that opened the world up to me, especially with how empty the city was. Even my quiet pocket of Queens got quieter as barely anyone was outside, so while it did feel a bit post-apocalyptic out sometimes, it also gave me a sense of peace and freedom. Also, with having so much more time at home and not having to commute, I took advantage of online-learning to really give myself as much time as I needed, instead of the previous sense of rush and urgency I used to feel when it came to assignments, and actually turned my grades around pretty drastically. While the pandemic has been horrific on most fronts, by working my hardest to make the best of it, I've been able to better myself as it's given me time to enact real self-care. Something I've never taken the time to do before.
• 
  2021-09-21

  Lauren Piasecki and Natalie Darquea, Oral History, 2021/09/21

  Covid-19 experience at high school students in the US.
• 
  2020-10-10

  Covidian Talismen

  During the pandemic, Still Life Studio in Santa Monica had to shut down. I set up a studio at home and used my ceramic work to cope with the pandemic. The epic quality of a world wide pandemic soon became the theme of the work itself. I wanted archeologists to dig up these vessels a thousand years from now and know what we had gone through. The "Covidian Amphora" tells the story of things we were doing during the pandemic. The "Vaccine Brewpot" was done about a month before the vaccine was available. I was excited and so made a giant sized (14" x 20") brew pot for it. After I got my shot, I made ceramic vials for antibodies as an ode to the antibody dragon searching through our system.
• 
  2021-05-24

  10 things to do while quarantine

  This book is a guide to something that I try to apply in my daily life and that is to take the positive out of every situation. Although this global pandemic has affected all us directly, I truly believe that we can do valuable things with the time and resources we have.
• 
  2021-01-22

  you good?

  At the beginning of the shut down, I got an email from a friend who asked "you good?". I didn't know how to answer that; I wondered if anyone was "good". Over the next few months I worked on a photographic piece for a show at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster that opened in January. I had a neon sign made for the title. The museum then had glowin the dark pins made to sell in their store. It seemed to hit a nerve because it sold out in few weeks and they have to reorder. I have a fantasy of everyone walking around with these pins: you good?
• 
  2021-03-22

  #JOTPYLesson from Michelle Wilson

  I have learned to breathe and meditate more. It’s okay to slow down! I’ve learned it’s okay to gain a few pounds (pandemic baking) I’ve learned to love myself more! 💛 #JOTPYlesson
• 2021-01-26

  COVID

  Luckily i have not been affected as much from COVID such as deaths. The only really bad thing that has happened to me was my uncle getting Corona and that was it. He only had mild symptoms for a couple of days and that was it. Now he's immune from COVID for a couple more months and then he has to start distancing again. Living through this pandemic really sucked though. I couldn't see any friends, I couldn't really go outside and everyone was panicking about the toilet paper and started buying toilet paper in bulk. It caused anxiety in many people and doing school online was just about the longest worst thing I've ever had to go through. Other than online school and staying inside, it was fine. I mean I got to play video games, sleep, and I did some workouts at home to figure out my record for Olympic type weights. Covid really affected my life and more so bad than good though.
• 
  2021-01-17

  Some of my Favorite Things

  These are 5 of my favorite things to do and use during this pandemic to facilitate some self-care and stimulate my brain while being stuck at home.
• 
  2020-10-17

  There's no cure for anxiety...

  Everyone has different approaches against anxiety during Covid, from self-care to cooking and exercising. Everyone has an opinion about it, everyone has a miraculous solution. Personally, I have tried many things: watching a movie, diet, moving furniture, cleaning, etc... Sometimes works and others don't. The meme that I chose reflects how anxiety is not a simple problem that can be fixed with a time-out. Anxiety can be a serious health condition and not every advice works the same in every person. Also, we need to consider accessibility to health, the possibility for self-care, healthy food, time for exercise, etc...Not everyone has the economical stability for self-care. Is easy to say to take a warm bath, drink some wine, and forget about everything. Think about all that priority workers that are exposing themselves to keep our daily lives working. Think of nurses, doctors, teachers, immigrant farmworkers, among many others.
• 

  Diana Arzamastseva

  Как бы это удивительно ни звучало, но моя жизнь никогда не была столь разнообразной. Хотя первые несколько недель новости о изоляции и вирусе повергали меня в уныние, хотелось лежать, смотреть сериалы и унывать. Но потом я поняла, что это надолго и я трачу время, которое стоило бы тратить на развитие. Раньше я много путешествовала и работала, дома только ночевала. Моим любимым занятием был макияж и подбор наряда каждое утро. Теперь же я всего этого лишилась и постоянно хожу в пижаме. Идея собираться и сидеть так дома, якобы это помогает настроиться на рабочий лад, явно не для меня. Когда ко мне пришло понимание того, что моя жизнь это теперь вот так (последняя из стадий принятия неизбежного), я смогла начать работать, писать диплом с невиданной доселе концентрацией. Более того, в освободившееся время я наконец-то начала читать образовательную литературу, рисовать, ухаживать за телом. Словом всё то на что не хватало времени раньше. Вернула домашние тренировки. Сделала квартиру уютным домом. Много готовлю и у меня это начало получаться, хотя раньше - никогда.
• 
  2020-03-18

  Self-Care Planning

  "The weeks and months ahead will be challenging, but that doesn’t mean they have to be miserable. Knowing what social distancing and (voluntary) self-quarantine may entail is a great first step to being prepared and setting yourself up for a (possibly even) personally rewarding response to these trying times." The following piece of media describes various strategies to employ during the pandemic, ensuring that your mental, physical, and emotional needs and stresses are managed and tended to. [This was added by the curator.]