ENTRY TWO

IMAGE 1 & 3 : Wearing Alpha Industries Bomber in Khaki, H&M Tailored Black Pants & ZARA Studded Brogues in Black. 

IMAGE 2 : Wearing Chandelier Earrings by ZARA & Champion Sweat in Navy Blue. 

A complete lack of perspective is everybody's state of mind, right now. It is after all, not easy to stay sane in these trying times when people are dying and everything seems to be falling apart. Our lack of foresightedness and the total absence of leadership qualities in political leaders today, though very unnerving, is the least surprising detail to have been unearthed in this pandemic. 

I spent the last few weeks reflecting about the events that have unfolded in just three months of this new year. Australia for instance, has now, more or less contained the virus but just a few weeks ago. It didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon. The numbers were doubling at an astronomical pace and everything around me was coming to a stand still, including my university classes.

A strong feeling of numbness was being registered in my psyche for the first time and it was overwhelming. I started researching and listening to podcasts discussing pandemics and that led me to a deep web-hole, where I started reading paper after paper about the Spanish flu, in 1919.  It felt weird because when I think about the early 20s and that era in particular, I think of Joan Crawford as the 'flapper' or of the Great Gatsby. A horrific pandemic feels so out of place but you can blame that on my naivety and lack of general interest in history.

Several art & theatre companies have shut down here in Australia and are receiving very little funding from the government to stay afloat. Many of my acquaintances who freelanced in the creative arts industry are left high and dry because of some rule that makes them ineligible for any kind of financial help. 

I was never eligible myself given, my foreign citizenship but I am always amazed by how in any given scenario, it is the creatives and the artists who get the short end of the stick. Sure, we are not on the frontlines saving lives but it is our work that keeps the rest entertained, enriched and occupied, as they find themselves confined within the four walls of their homes.

Celebrities have been getting a lot of backlash lately for their half-baked attempts at making light of this crisis. The verbiage used and the wrong assumptions made about this disease being a great equaliser has rightly enraged people, online. If anything, this disease is a great divider IMO. Rich vs poor, young vs old and to a large extent, artists vs intellectuals. 

The time when I worried about what skin care products to purchase or when to go out, feels like a lifetime ago. This crisis at its best, is a reminder of what is actually important in life. I hope we can all remember that. 2020 is going to be tough, that's a given, but let's try to do our best. I guess.