Seven pandemic questions

by

Austin Kleon had written in one of his newsletters his answers to seven pandemic questions. I asked my newsletter people their answers. Here are their responses, my responses, and Rocket Kid’s responses.

Question 1: What’s one thing you made this year?

I asked people to upload a photo, but the few brave enough to answer the questions in the first place didn’t share photos. Which is fine.

  • I’ve made a physically more fit me. I have exercised WAY more this past year than ever before and am in the best shape of my life.
  • I made a classroom of 3rd graders giggle hysterically (by being a guest reader)
  • I made a lot of music
  • I made a board game!
  • I made a table with my dad

Question 2: Did you have any bad ideas this year?

  • Probably! 😂
  • Too many to list, most pointed is not making a plan for self-improvement
  • Eating so much.
  • I think I more just didn’t think of good ideas (or any ideas) when I needed them.
  • I tried to build a catapult and ended up hitting myself because I put it together backwards.

Question 3: What is a moment from this year you’ll always remember?

  • The first glimmers of normal — first time I saw my daughter in marching band again, my other daughter returning to dance, visiting with my parents.
  • Early on family bike rides, family joy in spoils of the garden, camping with my boy
  • The first time we went swimming in our pool
  • Not a moment. Just the new habits we had—baking, doing puzzles.
  • When we got dogs!!

Question 4: What art have you turned to this year?

  • Music, books, the distraction of Netflix depending on what I needed.
  • Music – blues, jazz, reggae, hip-hop, punk
  • Drawing
  • Making music, taking photos, drawing
  • Reading!

Question 5: Did you find a friendship that helped you in this time?

  • It’s not so much one person, but due to circumstances beyond “just” the pandemic, I’ve learned a valuable lesson about who my real friends are.
  • No
  • None that were helpful more than regular times
  • I became friends with someone I knew very casually and it’s been excellent!
  • Friends that I could connect with brightened my day

Question 6: If you’d known you’d be isolated for so long, what would you have done differently?

  • I don’t know that there is much I would change except visited my grandmother more often.
  • Looked for better options to travel – RV, set up office sooner
  • Nothing. I was OK.
  • I might have spent time with different people before shelter in place.

Question 7: What do you want to achieve before things return to normal?

  • Healing from emotional wounds totally unrelated to the pandemic.
  • Ensure clear boundaries with work, improve my relationship with my family, better manage my emotions
  • Figure out what I want my post-pandemic life to look like.
  • Have my book accepted by a publisher

What about you? How would you answer these questions?