(MAR 28)
Welcome to what I assume is Day 50 (Or 2? Or 300?) of isolation! My school has been put on hold for a few weeks now, but it already feels like 2021! In other news, my data collection is going well, with 20 responses so far! I have been entertaining myself in the meantime by studying for exams, taking 5-hour naps, working on my capstone project, and listening to “Say More,” which is a podcast created by two of my favorite writers, Olivia Gatwood and Melissa Lozada-Oliva. Both of the girls record together but separately, with Gatwood residing in California and Lozada-Oliva living in New York -- apart but together -- to discuss whatever they feel like delving into, usually in a scattered pattern with laughter acting as their transitions.
The idea of “separate together” has been bouncing around in my head a lot as of late, especially with school being postponed until April 20th. Staying connected with my friends and maintaining sanity in quarantine so far has not been… the best, to say the least. I still feel very deeply that this is temporary. I just cannot believe that this is happening. This last part of my senior year is supposed to be the big party. I cannot tell you how bizarre it is to have gotten all of my college decisions, run to tell my parents if I got in or not, then think that I would be so excited to tell my friends in class where I would be going for the fall, only to freeze and realize that even if I could see them, I cannot jump up and down and hug them.
I suppose this is why it has gotten especially hard for me to write in quarantine. While I am a firm believer that we should honor what we feel and create as a we need to, that poetry should not be daunting, I cannot deny that sometimes it makes me feel like I am facing a Goliath with not even a slingshot, but a styrofoam pebble. This is what I have decided to make the subject of my pitch: taking the time to be honest with ourselves and with each other allows for connections, which we need now more than ever. I believe that Your Small Moments would be a great candidate for a source of connection, both through submissions, with our May issue decidedly entitled "The Quarantine Diaries," and through the posts put out on social media. I think this argument would work especially with the cinematography metaphor I have in mind for trying to move forward and process the world in a meaningful way that does not overload one with the news, or their emotions, or exhaustion.
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