The art will flow FROM the trial. That's the thing no one seems to be saying. To experience delayed gratification; to exercise self control; to be denied everything that made your day a routine; to feel, maybe for the first time, what invalids experience every day; to know someone who has died; to even go THROUGH a pandemic. The art will come! But that doesn't mean we have to force it now. For my part, I'm looking forward to the new stories, the richer hues, the ballads. Get through this, and your soul will do the rest.

Thank you! I've seen the memes about Bunyan and Newton and the creativity of their enforced solitude. And the musicians of our day, playing from their homes or making internet orchestras - wonderful. It's very giving. But the majority of us are just trying to get by, emotionally. I've slowed down on my painting, writing, editing. It's hard to focus.

In my opinión, that's not a positive way to see this, I am not an artist, but I love the work of many, and they are constantly posting updates and bits of their art. I hope this crisis to be not as long as to allow me to develop into a proficient artist in whatever branch. Artists already have the skills, so there's no reason to compare myself with them and feel social pressure. The time and effort I dedicate to attempt at some form of art or sport, I will consider an investment for old age (I hope to live for old age), I have many interests actually, and I expect them to keep me sane and lively. Besides many artists are posting their work to ask for support, mostly the musicians, and if they make social pressure it's not new, they're always telling you to practice, practice, practice.

That is so good for me to read. I had felt this pressure to read all the books and (finally) paint all the rooms in our house. There is mourning in what we are missing and a mourning in all of the sickness and lives lost. I've just given myself the freedom to not do any of those extras. We are in a type of war and for that I need to get back to the basics. For the first time, I can't even read a book, which seems so strange. My survival mentality is to be unproductive and to remind myself that taking care of my family and praying is the minimum and that if fine.

Thanks for that. It's a reminder to me not to nag my daughter. Also reminds me of one of Professor Elliott Engel's lectures where he notes that Queen Elizabeth I created the perfect environment for artists, namely Shakespeare. At the time, it prompted me to think about how the world around us shapes generations.

Nice to know. I haven't been able to learn much on my d major sinfonia by Bach....

Thank you for sharing this. It's everything I have just to mindlessly do diamond painting, because I don't have to think or be creative. Yet, I'm eagerly stocking the pantry and baking bread from scratch. This makes sense to the shift in my thinking.

Yes, yes, yes. In the first week of isolation here, I was frantically trying to figure out how I could move my local, in-person self-employment online. I spent those first two weeks trying to make that happen, and happen well. Thankfully in this third week, things have gone well in that dept.. But I lost "creative time" during that; while seeing all over social media and in some creative FB groups I'm in, people stepping up creative projects. I felt like I was missing something, or not getting the main income-producing part of my life in order fast enough. Hello, it was a worldwide crisis happening!! I couldn't even concentrate on reading a relaxing book I had from the library!

My least favorite meme right now is the one that says, "When the world fell apart, you turned to artists." Well, yeah, because our usual routine is shot to pieces. Like we weren't "turning to artists" for entertainment before the pandemic. Right now we're "turning to artists" while we wait for scientists to do their part, for medical pros to do their part, for truckers to do their part, for restaurants to do their part. The overweening narcissism of it all is nauseating.

And if they have kids at home who are normally in school, now they have to do school at home as well.

I think this whole situation is horrible. It is affecting our whole being. It disturbs me that so many people are calling for martial law. They are becoming paranoid and judgmental. It disturbs me that people are afraid of their neighbors. It disturbs me that people are not being allowed to publicly mourn their losses, I mean the loss of freedom and choices and normalcy. My first daughter was supposed to graduate from college this year. I have a situation where the one person who needs to stay home and not get sick is the one who is an essential worker, the source of our livelihood. This whole situation is terrible for everyone. We should not be judging our neighbors. I think just having a distraction is helpful. If that is a new skill or art, it may help some, and some it may not help. I have gone to a local park more often. The fresh air and water and trees calm me. But there are people constantly complaining that too many people are out. It is just hard on all of us. Setting expectations for someone else is not helpful. We need to help ourselves cope with every aspect of this, the loss of income, the danger of illness, the loss of teams, the loss of things we looked forward to, the distance of friends and family, everything.

This sums it up nicely