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time capsule
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2021-03-04
#SMhopes: an Archive of Hopes and Dreams
COVID-19 has had us in lockdown for nearly a year. So much has been lost, and so much has been missed. But now things are beginning to look up. If you live or work in Santa Monica, CA, we want to hear your hopes and dreams for the future. Please share your thoughts about how you view our post-pandemic world. What will you do the first day you can meet your friends? Where will you go when you can travel? What will be different? Using the Journal of The Plague Year’s “Share Your Story” page, post a written text, an image, a video, or an oral history. Use our tag #SMhopes to ensure you’re included in Santa Monica’s Archive of Hopes and Dreams, our time capsule of this crazy time. -
2020-12-01
Journaling Through COVID
It was probably late March this year when I realized the pandemic was much bigger than anyone could have predicted. On the 16th, when my school district and the whole of the country went into emergency lockdown for three weeks, it just felt surreal, as if there was no way any of this was actually happening. Still as cases started rising day by day, I’d watch the graph as it went up and down, counting the COVID cases as they happened. I’d track the global progress in dealing with the pandemic, taking in every new piece of information about it, my mind buzzing and eventually pounding with everything happening around me. To say the least, it wasn’t long before I quickly became overwhelmed with the weight of everything around me, beginning April. It was around that time when I found my journal, a small navy colored book, probably costing about a dollar, yet worth so much more. Before the pandemic began, I rarely used a journal or any physical book to organize my thoughts; I’d just sometimes use the notes app on my phone. But, as the pandemic snowballed into what it is now, and I felt my relationship with the world around me changing, I quickly realized I needed an outlet specifically designed to help me process my thoughts. A new news story in this crazy year would pop up. I wrote something down. I graduated high school in a cramped car packed with my family in a traffic line of people I couldn’t really recognize, instead of a crowded stadium with everyone I’ve known since I was eleven. I wrote something down. I celebrated my 18th birthday in a socially-distanced way, instead of going out with my friends. I wrote something down. Starting college, two states away from my school, beginning what’s supposed to be one of the best experiences, alone. I wrote something down. And, yet, feeling guilty, writing all of this, knowing and understanding that I am still incredibly fortunate and lucky to be surrounded by those who love me, and I them. I write something down. Whether I realized it or not at the time, journaling really became a therapy to calm my already anxious mind from overthinking, as it slowed me down enough to process the surrounding changes. My journal was one of the few things, one of the few spaces in this new lifestyle, that I felt I had complete control over. No matter what was going on outside, and as much as I’m trying to learn more about everything that comes up this year, taking it in while still also taking care of my mental health, I suddenly found this space where I could just think, say, and write what I feel. More than just a place to process my thoughts, which is what I usually take from writing, my journal just became an extension of myself, a comfort that I didn’t know I needed, as I was able to take things one step at a time. In a world of judgement and chaos, I could return to a place where there was order, and I could say what I wanted, how I really felt about so many things changing at once, all out of my grasp. I’m safe there. And, when I wasn’t writing what I was feeling or thinking at that moment, but still needed an escape, I'd use this journal, alongside my sketchbook, adding in aimless doodles or spending time actually sketching. In the same way one reads books to learn a new truth or escape reality, I did so too for just long enough to gain control of my feelings before diving back into a world too big to understand. It was, and still is, the middle ground connecting my quarantine space with the world around me. But, perhaps one of the biggest advantages of documenting this journey is that now I have this time capsule of what I was feeling, what I’m still feeling about this entire crisis and how I’ve been dealing with it. It’s a piece of me that will always reflect my own perspective amongst everyone else’s voices and stories throughout all of this chaos, and I get to hold onto it forever. So going forwards, journaling is something that I hope I can always return to, especially in times of stress or anxiety, for the value and journey of reflecting on self-identity is one that will always remain priceless. -
2020-08-29
San Francisco Public Library COVID-19 Community Time Capsule
The San Francisco History Center of the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) is actively archiving all types of materials, in multiple formats, to build a collection that documents and preserves the collective experiences of San Francisco residents during the COVID-19 public health emergency. They are interested in what is happening to San Francisco residents, neighborhoods, schools and workplaces. They are asking local residents to put on their archives hats and help capture what is different in our world today, what we miss, what we’ve created to reflect our new reality, and how we are communicating and living now. With your help, SFPL will build a collection that reflects the many ways San Franciscans were impacted by, and responded to, this public health crisis. All submissions will be preserved in the COVID-19 Community Time Capsule at SFPL and be shared with the public, as well as remain in the City and County Archives of San Francisco (part of the San Francisco History Center), for long term preservation. If you are interested in sharing digital content, please use our online submission form below. Digital content will ultimately be available through our online collection platforms and social media accounts. Submissions may include: photographs, blog posts or social media posts, video or audio, notices, signs or posters, including government notices or signs from private businesses, letters, emails, postcards, community newspapers, personal journal and diary entries, creative work - such as drawings, paintings, graffiti, poetry, recipes and games. This collection could be paired with the San Francisco Bay Area JOTPY Collection for a more robust picture of the impact of COVID-19 on the region.