Only a few weeks into the collapse, and I can’t help but pay close attention to the myriad of thoughts that keep interrupting the silence, this uncomfortable isolation. Who is most affected? We need to be looking out for those who are unhoused, undocumented, and most importantly people of color. I’m scared. I’m broke. How are you? At first I had to accept that this was a universal sadness I was experiencing, so for a little while I had felt less alone knowing that globally we are all in this together. We are all responsible for re-building our communities.
With the pandemic rearing it’s vicious sting on society, I’m rethinking everything. Like so many of you out there, and so there’s no way for any of us to gage what the future holds. Will we be able to return to work when we find a vaccine for Covid-19? Will we still have a place to live by that time? Perhaps if we already live with our parents, then we don’t have as much to worry about, but that doesn’t discredit the panic that adults living with their families are also feeling. Isolation and a lack of experiences outside of the living room, bedroom, patio, kitchen, the car, the driveway —well it’s all still an emotional set back, but like any drastic changes encountered, we are incredibly adaptable beings. I’m scared right now, and that desperation is everywhere at the moment. But must we live in fear, every day, and over the next couple of years? There will be moments of vulnerability, yes. But this is not our first pandemic. Some will survive, and some will not —the truth is that amidst the panic, when tragedy and trauma become a recurring element of our every day, we are not immediately able to comprehend how these major incidents are producing a sense of sanctuary.
We are more useful now, to protect and re-build our communities in ways that were not realized, pre-coronavirus. We have to be patient, and hold on just a little bit tighter. It will be years until our economy is back to normal -but what we require is not "back to normal", we need the system to be rebuilt. We are all vulnerable to this virus and how it will alter our every day existence. We can be strategic by monitoring our health and planning ahead for a more realized future; as we will have to eventually all live with Covid-19. We are all in this together. Losing our minds, and finding ourselves.
Image of Beijing, China in March of 2020 -by Photographer Blue Tsui, a featured contributor for HEY, VENUS! MAGAZINE
Los Angeles Market, March 2020 by G. Jelinski
Motorcyclist in Beijing, March 2020 by B. Tsui
Market in Beijing, March 2020 by B. Tsui
Sorry No More Eggs, Vons March 2020 G. Jelinski
Support those who put their lives at risk to support our communities. This is a time where profound leadership is mandatory. We have no solutions, ourselves, but we imagine that with time we will discover a way for us all to better understand how to fight this virus. True change will only occur when we take action —and the human condition has been formatted in a very specific way; we only take action when we’re frightened. Perhaps this is our greatest tragedy. Now is the time to reassess everything and, think seriously about rebuilding our infrastructure.
Warmly,
Gina Jelinski of HEY, VENUS! PROJECTS