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2020-04-01
“I think it affected it in a good way where people always tell me like God's going to provide for you and he's there for you and I'm like uh-huh sure but I got lucky enough to get a job that’s essential so I still get to work and still get to be with people that I love outside of my family and get a pay raise that let’s me pay my bills and let me really believe that God is actually providing for me and made me actually have a stronger faith than I was having before covid.”
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2020-05-09
March 25
This time has truly been a busy and challenging one. It is worrying and stressful. I believe that the 24-hour news cycle is part of the cause for this stress. There is no escape from the virus. I used to watch a lot of sports, but now there is nothing on TV. All ESPN has become is how Covid-19 is affecting the sports world. All anyone talks about now is the virus, nothing else really is being focused on. While this is a very negative view of this whole situation, I have observed one positive myself from this whole ordeal. I have been able to spend more time with my family and this has made weathering this whole situation easier. But this does make me feel for those who are not in the same situation as me. There are many whose parents are still working outside the home because their job requires them to or to help those with the virus. To those people I offer my gratitude and wishes for their well-being.
April 15
What I have found most interesting about these times has been how hard it is to do
work. I really did not think it would be this challenging. I expected some change, but it really is much harder to concentrate and get motivated in these times. But the more I think about it the more it really makes sense as to why it is so hard to do work and focus. At Fordham I would normally go to the library for 2 or 3 hours a day and be able to focus and tune out the rest of the world and just focus on the tasks at hand. It wasn't hard to focus back then. My biggest worry was the next exam or my GPA. A pandemic wasn't on my mind always in the background. This pandemic makes it hard to tune out the world. It is all over the news and all anyone talks about, so it’s just hard to think about anything else. It is also harder to do work at home. At the library I was there for one reason, to do work and I left when I finished. It is different at home. There are distractions everywhere and it is not a place I am accustomed to doing so much work. It was a place I came to relax and take a break. This whole ordeal has really been an adjustment. But I count myself among the lucky ones. My challenges are mundane in the face of what others are facing. All I can truly say is that this is truly a crazy world we live in today. It is like a movie playing out before our eyes.
April 21
Over the last week it looks like things are starting to improve a little bit in New York. We are making progress against the virus and the curve has begun to flatten according to Governor Cuomo. We still have a long way to go though. But hopefully this trend continues, and New York will be able to go back to some sense of normalcy this summer. Not every state is like New York though. Not all states are taking the proper precautions about Covid-19 or are truly taking it seriously. New York is thinking of opening in June. Other states are considering reopening next week. This is truly concerning. All the leaders of these states seem to care about is the economy. They want to open back up as soon as possible to restart the economy. What these leaders fail to consider though is that if they reopen too early the economy would be even worse than it is now and so many more lives will be lost. But they do not seem to think about the future, just the present.
April 22
I thought I would post an update today. I have not left the house frequently since the Covid-19 outbreak started but today I did. While looking out the car window I was truly shocked at the amount of people I saw not wearing masks. There were construction workers, runners, and bikers all not wearing masks, even though the governor mandated them days ago. These individuals looked like they were coming in close proximity with others, so I was surprised they were not taking the proper precautions. While I understand those, who cannot get their hands on a mask due to supply issues, I believe that there must be some way to cover your face to protect yourself and others. A simple bandanna or even a scarf could go a long way toward protecting yourself. To me this seemed to show that some people are not taking the pandemic seriously and are
ignoring it.
May 9
Today I wanted to discuss a particular issue that I have observed during the Covid-19
crisis. This is the issue of ableism in society. I was encouraged to read more into this topic after a classmate had mentioned it a couple of weeks back. Ableism is already an issue in society today, so you may wonder if it can really get worse. It indeed has gotten worse since the Covid-19 crisis has begun. The reason ableism in has gotten worse in society, actually has to do with something called a ventilator. Many states have found themselves woefully unprepared for this crisis, lacking many key products. One of these key products is a device called a ventilator. Ventilators are important because they can provide mechanical ventilation for people whose lungs have shut down due to an injury or infection, such as Covid-19. Ventilators were in short supply towards the peak of this crisis, but the issue has mostly been solved for the time being. At the beginning of the crisis however, some state officials tried to conserve their dwindling supplies of ventilators. Some states took this effort too far though. They enacted policies that could deny individuals a ventilator based on if they have certain underlying conditions such as dementia, cystic fibrosis, or “severe” intellectual disabilities. Upon reading into these policies, I was highly disturbed. We are deciding who lives and who dies based on these policies. In a way we are judging who is more “worthy” of life. The way these policies are written makes it is clear who these policy writers are considering more “worthy” and less “worthy”. These policy writers clearly believe that disabled individuals are less “worthy” of life then the rest of mankind. By denying disabled individuals a ventilator, you are denying them life and enforcing the notion that these individuals are not “worth” keeping alive. I truly believe this is wrong in every way. These policies blatantly violate the rights of the disabled and treat them as “inferior” to the rest of society.
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2020-04-01
“So, I lost my faith a long time ago. I grew up in a parochial school system and as I grew older I realized that I didn't believe what I was being taught. The covid-19 pandemic has really just solidified my beliefs that I don't believe in a higher power. I think that if a higher power did it exist they wouldn't let something like this happen.”
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2020-04-01
“Well, covid-19 really hasn't affected my faith or belief other than the aspect that the church is closed but I'm still able to pray every night with my family and do Christian traditions like usual and especially with Easter last week I was still able to celebrate and was able to communicate with my family via Zoom. So that’s pretty cool.” “With me being Christian, to my knowledge it's currently not gathering. It’s all going to be over like online…”
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2020-04-01
“I would say it hasn't really impacted me directly in terms of my personal beliefs but I did grow up in a faith or an organized religion if you will that definitely takes it's strengths and its inspiration from gathering and sharing in you know social activities with one another so I could imagine those who partake in those activities are probably having a difficult time at this moment.”
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This scene happened outside my house in the early days of the pandemic. My brother noticed a was car parked outside of our house for multiple hours, and was starting to get suspicious. I thought nothing of it, until two police cars pulled up beside it. After talking for a while, 3 more police cars and an ambulance showed up. It was quite the scene. After more talking, the man in the vehicle was eventually arrested and taken away. It turns out that the man inside was certain he had the Covid virus, and did not want to go home to his family. He had nowhere else to go, and it was a cold night, so he tried to park his car on our street and sleep there. It seemed like a valiant thing to do in my opinion. But, for whatever reason (there was probably more details we were not told), he was arrested, and his car was towed. It made me think: should he have been allowed to just sleep there? Was he doing anything wrong? I can't even imagine being too scared of yourself harming someone that you can't even go home. It was certainly a night to remember.
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2020-04-01
"I have found it a little difficult because we can't have our regularly scheduled church services. However, I have pretty much still been going to church as scheduled because I am the head worship leader of the church so we do our live church services like our online church services so I am a big part of that."
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2020-04-01
“So far it hasn't really had any affect. If anything, it's just made connection stronger with Jehovah. I find myself talking to him and praying to him more often than I usually would. So, so far it's just been positive changes in regards to me and my religious beliefs and practicing them and putting them into practice.”
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2020-04
“Affected? Umm... well I guess it's affected my faith or beliefs um because my religious practice has been affected so... I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we have our biggest bi-yearly conference in May and April and that conference was canceled and it was done all remotely.”
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2020-04-01
“I would not say that covid-19 has affected my faith or beliefs really in any noticeable way.” “Because of covid-19 my religious community has held gatherings virtually through Facebook live which has been mainly online services. I still participate regularly though obviously it's a little different with the online experience not being able to physically be there.” “My religious community has been providing service by having a blessing box which has food for anyone who needs some as well as making cards to send to elderly people who are currently more isolated than normal and lonely.”
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2020-04
"Uh... very little. It has done nothing but support previously held faiths and encouraged me in personal growth." "Uh... the community is still gathering but not physcially. Uh... we moved everything online that is possible. As for participation within it, um the um everyone in charge has gone out of their way..."
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2020-04
“Covid-19 hasn't directly impacted my faith or belief system so far.” “I do not currently participate in a religious community.” “My… I don't have a current one however I have seen of churches gathering supplies for those in need and helping to take care of the elderly in their communities.”
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2020-05-12
My written account of my experience.
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2020-04-01
“Covid-19 has affected my beliefs in the way that it has made me strengthen my faith and I am a Christian and believe in Jesus Christ.” “No.” “Covid-19 has affected my participation in my religious community by social distancing not being able to gather in prayer and congregate for worshipping.” “Yes, my religious community helps with passing out lunches to the kids of the community that are underprivileged and don't have access to any lunch nor breakfast because they're closing up the schools.”
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04/28/2020
My roommate and I stayed at home for half month. We felt kind of sad and depressed. We heard the Newport beach opens. We spent half hour to find a parking space, because there were lots of people. On the beach, lots of people were playing and having fun. We were surprised the number of people on the beach, because that was a Monday. On the day after we went to the beach, we heard the local government closed the Newport beach again, because there were too many people on the beach.
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2020-04
“I think it has strengthened my faith actually. I don't know what all this means and I don't necessarily believe it's God sent or anything like that but I definitely feel like it's god allowed like he's allowed this thing to happen for some reason and so whether it's to get our attention or to… I don't know. I don't know but I feel like there's almost like a forced stillness and I think in this forced stillness it'd be wise to take advantage of that time and really strengthen things.”
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05/12/2020
There were lots of people on the beach to see the glowing blue waves. Most people did not wear mask and some people even ate on the beach. I think people do not care if they will get the virus anymore.
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2020-05-12
My friends and I drove 30 mins from Irvine to San Clemente to see the glowing blue wave about 9 pm. There were lots of people and most people did not wear masks. I think everyone is getting tired of staying at home and keep social distance.
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2020-05-12
Curator's note: see attached PDF.
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2020-04-09
Ever since the coronavirus epidemic, my life hasn’t quite been the same. Before governors issued the stay-at-home orders, I was working and had recently started attending college. Everything was good for me and my days were spent living a normal teenage life. Now, everything is closed and I can’t go anywhere. Despite this, I have been surprisingly enjoying my time at home. As a kid I would hate staying home and always wanted to go somewhere to do something. To combat boredom I bought myself a ps4 so that I can play video games with my friends. A lot of my time has been going to my ps4 so it was one of my better investments. Besides playing video games, I have been playing guitar and exercising. These are the fun things I do but there are also the things that I have to do such as cleaning the house and schoolwork. Everyday I balance my time by cleaning the house and doing my homework in the morning. After I finish all my tasks, I then allow myself to do whatever I feel like. I usually finish every night with some exercise and a shower before going to sleep. Staying home all the time has led me to do things I didn’t do before. One thing I have done since the stay-at-home orders is starting a routine for my everyday life. It feels good having a routine as I already know what I have to do and when I must have it done. Of course, there have been some days where I’m lazy and don’t get anything done but I’ve been trying to have less of those. Getting to see my family all the time has been one of the pluses of staying home. I’ve been getting closer to my brothers and sister as well as my father. Whenever I’m bored or can’t find something to do, I’ll hang out or do something with my family. When I feel like going outside I’ll go for a walk around the neighborhood or I’ll go on a hike at the mountains near my house. Sometimes, there's seemingly nothing to satisfy my boredom so I’ll just sleep all day only to wake up at 3 a.m, wishing I didn’t mess up my sleeping schedule. Lucky for me, I have some night owl friends so they’re always down to game or chat at an ungodly hour. It feels like forever since I’ve seen my friends. Talking with them while playing games makes me want to see them even more but it’ll be a while until then. Thankfully, none of my friends or family have gotten the coronavirus. My family and I have been taking precautions to minimize the risk of us getting sick. My dad leaves the house only to work and go shopping but the rest of my family has been isolating. I have several friends who still go out and live life like normal but I know that isolating will stop me from getting my family sick. I wish I could accept all the invitations I’ve gotten to hang out but this is what’s best. Staying at home has its advantages and disadvantages but atleast I have a good home with a loving family and plenty of things I can do to occupy myself. I wonder if when I’m older I’ll even remember the stay-at-home order and the coronavirus. Will this all be something that is mentioned or referenced in future media? Whatever the case, I’m just waiting until the day I can go out and hang out with my friends again.
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2020-04
“Covid-19 hasn't affected my faith in a negative way but it does make you think about stories that we read in the Bible where God has sent us… you know I feel like maybe God is trying to send us a message for us to open our eyes with things going around in the world. It does wanna make me think.”
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2020-04
“It honestly hasn't affected it too much. Like, yeah, it sucks. It's not the best but it’s something that's been happening and I’ve just kinda been dealing with it. I don't think it's like this whole like major religious thing that it's kinda being put out to be. It's not like the reckoning or anything. So, I’ve kinda just been dealing with it the best way I can.”
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05/07/2020
A blog
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2020-04
“I think that the covid-19 pandemic has strengthened my faith and my beliefs. I find myself looking to the Lord more and more each day as we wait for a solution. My personal practice has grown and has grown with my family as we have more time together to pray.”
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2020-03
Before the pandemic had morphed into its current situation, Sarah Munro, a student at Columbia's School of Public Health, created an overview that was shared with friends and family members. It was meant to provide a resource to answer basic questions such as: how long will this last, should I wear a mask, etc. Although she is not a doctor, she is studying epidemiology and other related fields concerning diseases. Her belief was that some information is better than no information.
Sarah Munro is the original author, Joey Dorion is publishing per her request
Early March, exact date unknown
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2020-04
“In a lot of different ways that I couldn't name exhaustively but one of the ways I can think of now is that it's strengthened my conviction about God's peace and how it allows you to transcend things beyond understanding. Like, there's a passage Philippians 4 through 7 that says rejoice in the lord always again I say rejoice and it talks about letting your gentleness be evident and not being anxious about anything but by prayer and petition and with gratitude you present your requests to God and God's peace which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
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05/09/2020
Traditionally, graduation ceremonies at Mater Dei are meant to include the entire campus: students, their families, faculty, and staff. Now, ceremonies are only including those that are necessary and are being recorded for later broadcast. The heads of the student government are traditionally involved in all graduation ceremonies, and they are on campus, with masks and social distancing.
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05/08/2020
Medical staff the world over has been given the herculean task of not only trying to care for people that are getting sick, but also trying to maintain a somewhat positive disposition in light of all of this. Taken at the beginning of a shift, anything silly helps.
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05/11/2020
Schools in Orange County closed a few days before the Governor of California declared a mandatory stay at home order. While this action has affected multiple aspects of the educational experience, it has also made it particularly difficult to celebrate those students that are graduating. Everyone is trying to figure out different ways to celebrate, one of which was to hang banners announcing the graduate and their college of choice come the fall.
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2020-04
"It hasn't really impacted it. I mean the only really affect it has had on most religions is a lot of church has gone online um but that doesn't really affect the way I started to believe or have believed in anything."
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2020-04
“It hasn't affected my beliefs or faith. It's a strange time and I long to be with others but as far as my actual faith in God it hasn't changed it.” “They are not physically. We do watch weekly sermons and church service online but not physically are we able to get together.” “Unfortunately, we are not able to meet and so we haven't been able to participate in any one-on-one or group settings so it has affected us.”
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2020-04
“So I'm a Christian and I feel like it's affected my beliefs in positive and negative ways. In the negative ways our churches isn’t able to meet publicly and I really rely on a lot of people for emotional support and it’s kinda like a nice at the end of the week you get to go to church and see all these people and it's really refreshing.”
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2020-04
“I'm not really sure if it's affected my faith or beliefs. I've definitely been praying a lot more specifically for like family and just protection and things like that so I can't say it's negatively impacted but it’s probably made me use my faith a little bit more.”
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2020-04
“To be honest it hasn't affected my faith very much at all. I was a spiritual guy going into covid-19 and I still am. So I still believe that God's will be done so this is just part of his bigger plan and I'm doing my best to accommodate that and live in the moment.”
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2020-04
"Um... I wouldn't say my beliefs or faith have been changed in any way. Um... the way that I practice my faith has been changed. So, instead of going to church every Sunday, we kinda watch online um but other than that I would say it's just as strong as before."
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2020-04
“You know when you first asked that question or when you sent it to me to look at. I really had not even thought about the question because to me it didn't affect anything with my faith or my beliefs. Yeah, it's like from my perspective we're talking two different things. It would be like blaming my neighbor for something that someone else far away had done and I just can't do that. I can't put blame or change the way I believe about God or about mankind or people based off something someone else has done.”
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2020-04
“They have not affected them in any way.” “Because I mean obviously we're going to have to go through tough times but that doesn't mean that you can stop believing in a higher power.” “Yes, via Zoom so I guess not in person obviously but they're still finding a way to connect.” “It's definitely made it tougher to connect with others in my religious community obviously because we don't have that face-to-face communication anymore but still trying to keep connected by checking in with members of my community and making sure that everyone is okay.”
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2020-04
“It hasn't really challenged my faith or my beliefs. I think it's helped me lean on them more. It's definitely stretched it a little bit but in the sense of refocusing my faith in Jesus and just in this season allowing sometimes the difficult moments to refocus us and putting our focus on what we believe. So, it hasn't really changed it in a bad sense. It's actually strengthened it I believe.”
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2020-04
“I think it has brought it to light a little bit more than normal just because there's some confusion and fear and I was thinking they don't... they always say there is no atheist in a foxhole. So, yeah, it brings it to light but I think it's nice that I've always had that routine or that in the background to just rely on anyway and now it just goes a little deeper.”
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2020-04
“I believe my faith has grown stronger because of it.” “Yes, we’re still gathering. It is through the internet. Our small groups are through the internet as well.” Yeah, so, I belong to Saddleback Church and we’re in Orange County. We have something that's called the peace forum and we grow vegetables and fruit and also take donations. We are providing those to all of the needy in our community.”
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2020-04
“I feel that covid-19 has made my beliefs stronger because we have to rely on faith and that God is in control and we're not.” “No, it's just all online like all the services are online. No.” “Yeah, so our church and another church close by are offering a food drive every Thursday night and people drive through our church parking lot to receive a box of food.”
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2020-04
"I would say... you know the church is a community and so that's kinda one of the main things so it definitely affects my faith in the sense that I can't be a part of my faith community in person. Um... it has affected my faith in that I I work at church you know and so I can't really effectively lead that community as well as I normally would you know as when we can meet in person."
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2020-04
“So I would say my general theology and philosophy are not particularly affected one way or the other because I realize that these sorts of things happen in history and that they are part of earthly life. They are part of the kind of difficulties that afflict the human race…”
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2020-05-05
Susan Backman is an artist (and Imaging Coordinator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) who often sends lucky friends original artwork on postcards. She is inspired (and disturbed) by covid19's spread and created this.
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04/01/2020
Calla interviews "Merinda" about how the pandemic has affected including religion.
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2020-05-07
Willie Mae's adds a funny post to the restaurant's Facebook page, providing solutions to patrons for the questions, what's for dinner? The restaurant offers online and to-go orders.
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2020-04-30
Willie Mae's asks patrons to order online instead of calling in and reminds patrons that the restaurant remains to-go only.
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28/04/2020
Willie Mae's adds a poster to the restaurant's Facebook to let patrons know the restaurant is open for business. Orders are for pick-up or Ubereats only.
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2020-04-27
Willie Mae's in New Orleans provides 250 meals to the cities residents and community.
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2020-04-30
The Pythian Market starts off the restaurants second week of Jazz Festing in Place by offering meal orders online.
