A Message From Me on COVID-19

It’s hard today.

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and society is a shell of what it once was. We miss things. We miss yesterday. We miss walking around campus and seeing that one random stranger who you always see on your routine path. We miss parties, and openings, and standing around fires together. We miss each other. It is normal to miss things when they are ripped from you, but, in this troubling time, it is important to keep living. If not for the sake of yourself, for the sake of others.

For me, and most artists, this means that we mustn’t forget to keep creating. Creating is living for us. It is our duty and role in life, especially for times like this. We play such an important role in society for so many reasons. We record. We tell the stories of times like this. We are the voices from and of movement or change. We document not only oppression, and hardship, but also victory and movement.

Right now, we are once again experiencing change. We are isolated, a world on shutdown, bound to our homes. But we are finding ways to survive, just like we do in every crisis. No, we are not facing the Great Depression, but we are facing a hardship of our own. This time, it is one we have never experienced before.

So, we must tell our stories, and find new ways to share each individual experience. We write our own history. And we need to remember that yes, the world is in the shadows right now, but it is up to us on how we react to it. We can keep moping around or we can provide hope to our generation.

          Art is a movement maker; it is one of the top challengers to the society we know. It calls for change. It demands a difference. And it initiates the world to get up to its feet. So, we must keep creating. We must carry hope over our shoulders and not look back. We must show others that it’s gonna be okay and our new life will be better than the old one ever was. Life will return to normal one day, but until then we remind the world to keep on trucking. And through the muddy waters comes a brighter day.