Thank you for sharing your experience in New York during the early stages of the government's response to the "pandemic." Many of our lives became limited to an exercise routine and remote work. For others, they devoured all the medical literature they could find (and comprehend) to understand what was reportedly plaguing the world. I recall feeling isolated in mid-April 2020 due to having a completely different view from friends & family on the transpiring "COVID" situation. I used InstaCart on more than one occasion and glimpsed the pile of pizza boxes on my neighbor's front porch. The "pandemic" was great for Big Business but not so much for the mom-and-pop stores: that in and of itself became a pandemic of small business closures.
May 21, 2023·edited May 21, 2023Liked by Sincere American Writing
Clear and evocative. I'm a native New Yorker; I know how hard it is to describe such a distinctly sentient experience in a way that feels satisfying, or at least to me.
I'm curious as to why you've chosen "fictional memoir" rather than the usual 'autofiction.'
I've toyed with the idea myself with my memoirs in the name of "protecting the guilty," but they're guilty as fuck, so it makes no sense for my quest for bare-naked authenticity. I'm kinda perverted about that: If something feels remotely taboo or embarrassing, I force myself to spend more time peeling the layers on it.
I also have the Chinese curse of having led "an interesting life" that is so unusual for an American that I feel autofictioning it will weaken the unusualness that I've been gifted or saddled with, depending on your perspective, or how well therapy is working for me recently.
I am considering autofic to expand on particular sequences from my life that would come after the memoirs, as you seem to be doing with this. And now I feel overwhelmed by all the writing ahead, so I'll crawl under the covers till it goes away.
I lived in NY for 20 something years but thankfully, i managed to stay away from it during that awful time. I do have, however, friends in every field you can think of who went through the panic and boy!... do they have stories to tell.
I haven’t really gone back to Covid times in my head and your article reminded me how it felt, the isolation and emotion we all lived with that we have simply moved on from, yet it’s still inside us.
You want them to prove their love, yet then you pull away. This powerful insight seems to sum up my own struggles. I don’t want to pull away, I don’t know why I pull away, but I think I do.
We must always push forward even on the bleakest days. We take a kiss here and there and hugs too. The Human Touch is so important the memories of those acts of kindness will always get you through the darkest night.
Thank you for sharing your experience in New York during the early stages of the government's response to the "pandemic." Many of our lives became limited to an exercise routine and remote work. For others, they devoured all the medical literature they could find (and comprehend) to understand what was reportedly plaguing the world. I recall feeling isolated in mid-April 2020 due to having a completely different view from friends & family on the transpiring "COVID" situation. I used InstaCart on more than one occasion and glimpsed the pile of pizza boxes on my neighbor's front porch. The "pandemic" was great for Big Business but not so much for the mom-and-pop stores: that in and of itself became a pandemic of small business closures.
Clear and evocative. I'm a native New Yorker; I know how hard it is to describe such a distinctly sentient experience in a way that feels satisfying, or at least to me.
I'm curious as to why you've chosen "fictional memoir" rather than the usual 'autofiction.'
I've toyed with the idea myself with my memoirs in the name of "protecting the guilty," but they're guilty as fuck, so it makes no sense for my quest for bare-naked authenticity. I'm kinda perverted about that: If something feels remotely taboo or embarrassing, I force myself to spend more time peeling the layers on it.
I also have the Chinese curse of having led "an interesting life" that is so unusual for an American that I feel autofictioning it will weaken the unusualness that I've been gifted or saddled with, depending on your perspective, or how well therapy is working for me recently.
I am considering autofic to expand on particular sequences from my life that would come after the memoirs, as you seem to be doing with this. And now I feel overwhelmed by all the writing ahead, so I'll crawl under the covers till it goes away.
I lived in NY for 20 something years but thankfully, i managed to stay away from it during that awful time. I do have, however, friends in every field you can think of who went through the panic and boy!... do they have stories to tell.
I forgot about the Zoom bombers!
I haven’t really gone back to Covid times in my head and your article reminded me how it felt, the isolation and emotion we all lived with that we have simply moved on from, yet it’s still inside us.
You want them to prove their love, yet then you pull away. This powerful insight seems to sum up my own struggles. I don’t want to pull away, I don’t know why I pull away, but I think I do.
We must always push forward even on the bleakest days. We take a kiss here and there and hugs too. The Human Touch is so important the memories of those acts of kindness will always get you through the darkest night.
I want to get home before it gets darker.