“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
-Charles Darwin
Happy Passover and Easter!
The longer, brighter days are a visceral sign that we’re truly turning a corner in this pandemic.
The arrival of April is the one-year mark of this little newsletter that was born out of a way to help distract and assist people to flex their creative muscles while in lockdown. At the time, I thought it would be a few-week endeavor (remember the signs up at this time last year-15 days to flatten the curve?). Since my first newsletter on April 10, 2020, we’ve toured the world together. We’ve visited museums, both famous and obscure, attended virtual concerts, drawing classes at the Whitney, St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Dublin, Christmas concerts, lectures at the V&A and spent time reimagining our day-to-day lives.
All of this was against the backdrop of unprecedented (the most used word of the last 12 months) political upheaval, racial unrest, and a complete disruption of life as we knew it.
At the beginning of the pandemic I bought a journal that was ‘one line a day’ and began recording just one line or thought from each day. I did so because I wanted to note what we didn’t know, what was happening and what we were facing day to day, because as we gain more knowledge from experience, it’s easy to forget the exact conditions as they were.
That journal now reads like a mini-series - all the drama of 2020 and early 2021! It details my own experience with COVID, the sheer difficulty of trying to work, homeschool, parent and exist within four walls for months on end. The political backdrop was anxiety inducing for me and while I did my best not to wring my hands, the undercurrent of worry was constant and unsettling. Last fall was spent trying to comfort the many friends who lost parents, aunts and uncles to COVID.
But then, as the tides began to turn, there was a sense of being able to exhale. So many friends have described to me the very same feeling of that first ‘exhale’. Whether it was getting their own vaccine, or someone they cared about getting theirs, they all describe a sense of a huge weight being lifted from their shoulders. It was a weight they didn’t even realize was there and a visceral lightness with that sense of relief.
It’s been a long twelve months. I think I’ll be processing all that has happened for a while but one thing I’ve noticed is that along with that relief, is a deep desire to rest.
Despite having a team who helps me pull this together each week and send it to you, I’m weary and need to give myself the chance to take a break. The multi roles I’ve played this past year as writer, designer, consultant, parent, CEO, COO, CFO, family psychologist and lifecoach, cheerleader, cruise director and P.E. teacher has left me with an empty tank. As a result this little newsletter will be going on hiatus for a while as I reimagine how it might serve you in the future and how it can evolve to do so.
This has been a wonderful focus and fun project so it will definitely be back in the coming weeks. For now, though, enjoy this week's content and I’ll be back in your inbox soon!
Suzanne
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- Fashion forecasters are preparing for a revival post-pandemic, claiming the industry is “optimistic and follows instinct and speculation towards the future”
- Cities have been reimagined during the pandemic...will they stay that way?
- Ralph Lauren’s Spring 2021 collection & show takes inspiration from the Roaring 20s
- L’Oreal is one of the many makeup and fragrance companies anticipating a boom in sales post-pandemic
- The National WWI Museum is sharing recipes from that era and modern-day parallels.
- This writer’s take on their desire for a “Snoring 2020s” – “the right balance between smelling the roses and tending to our gardens”
- Loving these 1920s architecture catalogues & pics of Art Deco design in use today!
- This artist is best known for her work during the Harlem Renaissance, leaving a legacy that still inspires today
- For some fashion inspo, check out these 10 vintage ‘20s styles that you could pull off today
- An Argentinian sculpture artist is looking to a sustainable future in 2020s art, using waste from the pandemic to create an exhibit called the ‘Museum of After’
Things to Do Around the World:
- Check out the thousands of items in the Louvre’s newly digitized collection
- The Philadelphia Museum of Art celebrates “Slow Art Day” on April 10, a virtual event focused on mindfulness and art appreciation