Wearing away
Notes
2020: The sociologist Eric Klinenberg has written about the lasting psychological effects of what happened in 2020 in the US – the distrust, anger and fear. He talked about his work with the anchor Chris Hayes; podcast and transcript here.
Brutality: Here is more information about the places I mentioned. Mariupol. El Geneina. Be’eri. Al Muwasi. Port-au-Prince. Al Shifa. These are only a few. The International Rescue Committee is an organization doing good work to help people around the world, helping to counter some of the brutality.
We bought a book: Quotes are from A Field Guide to Gettysburg, 2nd Edition, by Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler (University of North Carolina Press, 2017).
Manufactured animals: I spent some time last month making a series of watercolor postcards that mix imagery inspired by these creatures, which I had begun calling “comfort animals” in my head, with text adapted from the clinical language of emotional support. I submitted the best ones to a local gallery for an upcoming exhibition that is aiming to be “an exploration of the human experience, shedding light on the complexities of mental health.” (The description also said it would be a collective effort to destigmatize mental health, even though the show’s title is “Shattered.”) None were accepted. If you DM me your address, I’ll send you one!
Gettysburg: It is becoming difficult to preserve Gettysburg, literally. The National Parks website has more information on the environmental challenges the site faces, and how these are being addressed. Walking through the museum, watching the excellent Morgan Freeman-narrated video, and viewing the Cyclorama together with other visitors before we walked around the killing fields, my mind was on figurative abrasion, too; the dissipation of memory, the corrosion of will to face our past honestly.
Where do you find hope and solace these days? Thank you for being here with me.