Well, how much has the world changed since last month?
As of March 26th 2020 New Zealand is at a COVID-19 Level 4 alert and the whole country is on lockdown. We all have to stay at home unless going out for essentials like food or medicine. We are allowed to go out for exercise, to walk or run around the block for fresh air, all while maintaining a 2m wide berth around everyone you meet. It feels like we are living in a movie plot (I am Legend, Contagion) or the plot of one of the dystopian future novels I love to read (Divergent, The Hunger Games, Station 11).
There is so much uncertainty around the world at the moment, so many people are going to, or already have, lost their jobs. The creative sector has been shattered. My partners workplace lost virtually all their work overnight as they are in live events and production. They hopefully will be able to hold on for the next while, but there is still a lot of uncertainty there.
For a while there it seemed that every day the news would just get worse and worse, it was changing almost every hour, there was so much speculation and anticipation about what might happen. I knew for me, there would be jobs that didn’t go ahead, that got delayed or postponed, that if businesses and people were struggling then they wouldn’t be able to commission art or illustrations or design. It felt like a really weird time to be promoting my work or trying to sell my book or art.
We were also meant to be moving to a new house at the beginning of May where I would have my own studio space again. But this has been delayed due to the lockdown, so we continue to live pretty much on top of each other in our overcrowded house.
My anxiety levels got so bad, worse than they have been in years. Anticipation does that to me, dwelling on all the what ifs.
But then I sat down and kept working on some of the beautiful letters I have been creating for 36 Days of Type, and it instantly calmed me. It emphasised how important it has been for me to keep creating every day this year. Creating separate from any client work or external input. Creating just for me.
My business direction and goals might seem uncertain in the current climate. But my art is still important, all art and creativity is so important right now, people need a reprieve from all the bad news. They need to see or hear beauty in the world. I need to see beauty in the world
And right now, Darren is home for the next 4 weeks, he is getting to spend some quality time with Arlo, and I am able to have more time and space to work on aspects of my business that have been neglected. There is so much that is positive about the current scenario we are in, so I will try and remain less anxious about the state of the world, and more grateful that I can continue to create during this time.