F.M., 40, an ultra-marathoner in Piracicaba, Brazil
“It is pointless to take these practices for preparation for a competition, because the competition doesn’t currently exist. To use the sportsman lingo, what I can do is maintenance work.”
“It is pointless to take these practices for preparation for a competition, because the competition doesn’t currently exist. To use the sportsman lingo, what I can do is maintenance work.”
“In Japan, it is very common to see people wearing face masks especially if they are sick or with a cough or sneeze a mask is worn out of respect for others. Why pollute another’s air? But, in the America, the wearing of a mask gave a negative denotation. Suddenly, because you are Asian, you became suspected of being a carrier, a cause of the disease and the change of life. The ugly side of even the most God-fearing person exuded nasty and hateful comments to Asians with activity of people coughing into the Asian face…”
“I have been a Shin Buddhist all my life. […]We relied on each other for help and assistance. When times were hard, everyone shared what we had, everyone helped each other in the fields or to work on a project, be it church, community or neighborhood in need. If you had nothing to give, you offered your kind words, support or offer to help. […] In this time of Pandemic, I have seen many of the things I grew up with and recognize so much of the Shin Buddhist lessons I have heard and seen thru the years…”
“Within this new atmosphere, our gratitude, as a Buddhist, for each other and others has grown even stronger through the pandemic. We begin our day with deep appreciation to the many unselfish and essential people that place their lives in front of the mysterious virus that lurks outside…”
“Having talked to my mom about how things are going in the hospital, I feel like it’s really surprising how fragile human health is, and it’s like an extra factor in the fear of the unknown. It shows you how much government itself values life and how problematic the healthcare system can be. Underlying issues with healthcare and government are more apparent, but perhaps with how some Americans have been responding, these issues are much, much more. America will do the most to try and stop a problem, but it’ll work harder to make sure there’s something to blame for it.”
“언제든지 어떤 방법으로던 우리에게 또다시 다가 올 이런 재해들이 인간들을 어떻게 변화하게 만들고 적응하게 만들지 긍정적인면보다 많은 부분 불안할 뿐이다.”
“한 두명 같이 타던 엘리베이터를 굳이 여러번 넘기면서 혼자 타고 싶고 슈퍼에서 줄 서서 물건 계산할 때 좀 불안하고 마스크 썼나 안썼나 살피게 되고 재채기라도 옆에서 하면 심장 떨어질 것 같이 놀라고……왠만하면 엄마들 만나서 수다하는 것도 굳이 내가 나서서 만나자고 하고 싶지 않다. 원래 그런 성격도 아니었지만… covid-19이 빨리 끝나기를 바라지만 이렇게 핑계김에 집에 있는 것이 편하고 좋다.”
“I have donated to a couple charities, but that didn’t even feel real – I have been so isolated in my house that I don’t really know what’s going on in the outside world now. It’s sad that so many people have died, their lives turning into a number on the death count. What’s even more sad is that I don’t even feel anything anymore. I just want this to be over…”
“The things I had written about – campus life, relationships – all felt part of a world that didn’t exist anymore. This new world of strange memes, my Mother’s purchase of Zoom stock, and the misery in the country was a lot to digest. I’m sure in a few months I’ll write about the absurdity of all of it.”
“This has been a time of deep self reflection and […] has made the Buddhist teaching of impermanence immediate and ever present. The dharma has allowed me to be open to what is the evolving and ever fluid circumstance. The recent protests over the George Floyd murder are just another aspect of this truth…”
Life in Quarantine: Witnessing Global Pandemic is an initiative sponsored by the Poetic Media Lab and the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis at Stanford University.
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