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While you are swimming you are not entirely tethered to the earth. Your world is liquid, your sounds are breathing and splashing. It is an activity made for introverts. I have been swimming regularly for 45 years; many of those years I swam every day. Now my body physically aches to be enveloped in water. I think about my first swim post-COVID; how it will feel to plunge in, push off, and take that first deep breath. Soon, I hope. Very soon.]]>
https://www.jedwardsphtgry.com/exposure-quarantine-in-the-valley]]> http://archive.today/2020.08.04-163006/https://www.jedwardsphtgry.com/exposure-quarantine-in-the-valley]]> http://archive.today/q204K]]> When campus closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was most upset about having to complete my drawing class online. How would it be possible to complete a course like this at home, given that our next unit was drawing live nude models? Not only did I not want to transition to online learning, but it also wasn’t what I had signed up for at the beginning of the semester. But this wasn’t something that anyone wanted to happen. There was no other choice for students and professors but to adapt to the circumstances and so for the remaining of the semester online, my professor assigned us a final series topic - “Inside vs. Outside” which we had to complete 6 drawings for.
I really appreciated having this series to work on during quarantine and being at home. It was so hard to complete school work at times but this project kept me engaged and excited despite the grim circumstances. Art in general is meditative to me, so being able to express my emotions as they related to the present moment was very helpful in getting me through to the end of the school year. It was not how I wanted or ever thought I would conclude my college career, but I forced myself to stay positive. So many other people in the world were struggling way more than I was so I tried to take things rather in stride.]]>