Creativity Amidst Chaos

As chaos swirls around us, it calls on our creativity. In the face of multiple challenges, we have to stay positive to maintain sanity. Though seeds of our problems were planted years ago, it was staying home with more free time that we recognized the effects of climate change, police brutality and a flawed health care system. Watching society fall apart so rapidly took most of us by surprise, yet it also became a call for action. According to faculty at Boston University’s School of Global Affairs, times like this often initiate change for the better. When the initial shock of the pandemic in Italy subsided, COVID-19 made the European Union stronger. Countries came together, sharing information and resources that helped them get better control of the virus.

I dare say that no one is complacent today. We’ve been forced to look inward and, though we’ve seen much that is bad, their is also good. We’re more realistic and more inventive in the way we communicate and manage our days.

Last weekend I went to a Zoom wedding. Rather than attend an over-the-top extravaganza, I sat in jeans watching two very happy people exchange vows with only six family members in live attendance. I was so close to the couple I could see smile lines on their faces. Their eyes twinkled as they looked at each other with such warmth that I was drawn into their circle. We gallery of watchers applauded and wished the couple well, saying we would be there for them as their married lives evolve.

Zoom marriages, celebrations of birth, memorials, and computer matches keep people connected. We are fortunate to live today and not in the 14th century during the black plague. Modern medicine, computers, heated and air cooled homes and supermarkets are blessings not to be taken for granted.

Last weekend, I watched an NPR documentary about 30,000 Jewish refugees confined to a one-square-mile ghetto area in Shanghai during the Japanese invasion of China. Isolated behind barbed wire fences for six years, they were forced to reexamine their values and find ways to stay positive. They educated their children and lived in the present, saying they were one day closer to the end of their confinement. They realized that posessions have little value for they are easily taken away. What is important is maintaining health, being with family and friends, having a joyful spirit, and accepting each day as a gift.

A friend witnessed the best of America while visiting a relative near the Big Hollow Fire north of Vancouver, WA. Fleeing families were invited into the homes of strangers or allowed to camp on their lawns. Food, clothing, toys, and equipment poured into the community to help refugees who did not know if they would have a home to return to. No one asked if they were a Republican or Democrat. Across the country, people give aid to those who need it and get joy from doing so. They are good citizens.

A woman called to tell me the pandemic was a blessing, for it gave her time to think about who she was and what she wanted to do next. She started planning a new business venture and is in the initial stages of executing her dream. Several artist friends in their studious are producing works inspired by the pandemic. Their insights will grace the public with magnificent displays of beauty when the pandemic is over.

A physician friend is making sculptures that surprise the neighborhood. Though a novice metalworker, he learned to weld, cut and assemble pieces that look professional. The woman across the street from him stays occupied by making quilts. She hangs lovely creations over her porch railing before giving them away.

Many people pass as they head for the trail by our house. One neighbor commented that because of her daily walks, she is stronger and healthier than she was last February. It is apparent from they way she looks that the excursions make her complexion glow.

There are more flex jobs and more people working in pajamas, proving to employers that they can get work done from home. It is likely that some hybrid of home and office work will evolve to replace “the daily grind” in an office setting. This should lower traffic congestion and decrease the need for new office buildings. Jobs for software developers and customer support increased dramatically.

Though vacations by plane decreased, families went on road trips and enjoyed nature where wildlife is thriving. Monkeys were seen roaming streets in Thailand. A bear was spotted navigating a town in Alaska while humans were indoors. My neighborhood, only ten minutes from center city, is frequent by deer, coyotes, owls, raccoons, possums, and hundreds of rabbits, animals not seen five years ago.

Pharmaceutical and health research companies are making massive technological advancements in their search for a vaccine. People who get COVID-19 today have a greater chance of surviving than they did seven months ago. There have been tremendous advances in digital health care that will serve us well in the future.

At a scale not seen in 50 years, millions of Americans returned to cooking. Interest in online tutorials and recipe websites have surged. IKEA, revealed how to make its famous meatballs and Swedish cream sauce and many restaurants are sharing their secret recipes so people can try them at home. Cooking could make a difference to the average person’s health, for those who do so eat less fat and sugar. According to Hans Tapariea, professor at NYU Stern School of Business, the newfound proficiency in in the kitchen could be lifesaving.

Drive-in concerts have sprung up all over the country for those who miss live music , yet don’t want to be in crowds. Lady Gaga made a new album for dance-floor fun use in our living rooms. Taylor Swift put out her best ever studio album. The Chicks returned after 14 years with “Gaslighter” reigniting a love of twangy empowerment songs.

The Opera in Barcelona, Spain performed to an attentive audience of house plants in July and then donated the plants to health care workers. And, Hamilton was made available to the public as a movie.Coronavirus sent theater online. In the U.K., an online view of One Man Two Guvnors by Richard Bean had 2.6 million viewers on Zoom and YouTube. Broadway and West End playgoers can watch musicals and dramas at home via Broadway HD for a monthly fee of $ 8.99.

Puzzles and board games are cool again and parents spend more time with their kids. Recognizing that homeschooling is hard, they are praising teachers again for the heroes they are. Now that most schools offer distance learning, teachers are learning how to keep students engaged. It is not easy. Thousands of tablets were handed out to students who need them. Computer literacy may improve because of it, becoming an equalizer of the future.

Museums got creative by showing their collections virtually, offering special classes and lecturers through Zoom, and developing in-house and distanced programming that meets social distanced and hygiene guidelines. OMSI started a program to help children with their homework.

Bike lanes stayed open when many park trails closed. Bicycle companies are doing a booming business. It is a healthy, non-polluting way to travel that has caused a shortage of cycles as anxiety over public transportation and a desire to exercise sent the demand surging.

As toilet paper disappeared from store shelves, bidet sales boomed, which was good news for our behinds…and less wasteful. Peer-reviewed research claims bidets are superior to toilet paper, a position supported by many doctors. Bidets are common in Europe, but Americans always had an aversion to the idea. The pandemic may bring about a change in attitude.

People looking for activities to occupy their free time after events closed, turned to gardening in record numbers. Burpee & Co. sold more seeds than any time in its 144 year history. Neighbors, new at farming, grew tomatoes and cucumbers in their yards and shared the excesses with their friends. Gardening was an especially good activity to do with children.

In our neighborhood, people raised garage doors and chatted with friends in driveways or on porches during happy hour. Neighbors brought their own drinks, food and utensils and sat on chairs arranged six feet apart. As always, there was much to say.

References:

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(2020) Theatre companies are pushing storytelling boundaries with online audiences amid COVID-19. The Conversation. retrieved from https://theconversation.com/theatre-companies-are-pushing-storytelling-boundaries-with-online-audiences-amid-covid-19-141583

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