You might look at my blog as a kitchen sink of writing, everything just thrown at a wall and seeing what sticks- but that’s not how I see it- I see this as a documentary about the present , about our new appreciations we have developed this year; contemporary relevance. So let me go through every article I have written and explain to you how I think this relates to my theme of contemporary relevance:
- Heat waves
I think this article really shows how far we have come in so little time- now I almost hate heat, because it shows the beginning of a long and grueling season of record breaking temperatures. It also reminds us to be grateful for what we have, and to appreciate fog and cool mornings while they still exist.
- Building after a fire
This article also showcases this new era of abnormality we live in, and that we should learn to appreciate things that might have seemed ‘normal’ 5 years ago.
- Birds!
Birds have been really calming to me during these times, and the ones I see are nothing like they are in their namesake film.
- Dogs!
This was really just an excuse to talk about how awesome my dogs are, but everything I said was true, chiefly that they have helped me through this difficult year and that I have found a new appreciation for my dogs as therapists.
- Quarantine time wasters
I haven’t really been much of a binge watcher before this summer, but I guess the coronavirus has pushed everyone into their own little niche.
- Sky blue
I think this one is really the simplest; this fire season has shown me that the sky is not always blue, and a blue sky is a good sky.
As you can probably see by now, all of my topics are contemporary; they are all brought on by quarantine or the fires; and they are appreciatory- they give thanks to the things that herald ‘normality,’ and also point out where our visions of ‘normal’ are flawed. I think that this year provides a unique microcosm of our changing normal. Usually you would notice this periodically over a long span of time, but not for this year. What I have found is that each period (about 2–4 months) of relative stability has been quickly followed up by an abrupt change in the ‘normal.’ First quarantine happened, and we got used to that in a couple of months- but then we faced a ongoing racial reckoning on a scale that has not been seen in a half century, and then we were faced with a record breaking fire season that started in April. Now you can begin to see why this American Moment project is so important; because this is a year we need to really study in order to truly understand meaningful change and how it happens.
