What is going on at the moment, and how do we deal with all the changes? In this blog, someone from the Flow team shares how she is dealing with the current situation: both on a practical level and in her head. This time: Astrid (Flow’s creative director) talks about the beautiful things she sees around her.
There they are, my Flow colleagues. I see them on the screen, as we confer online. I see laundry rooms, attics, kitchens, dining rooms and living rooms. I see cats walking in front of the screen, unmade-up faces, daughters reaching across the background as they collect something from the printer, sometimes a tear here and there, or a catch in the voice.
We tell each other how it’s all going. That we slept badly, about our concerns for sick people, that we argued with our housemates, about how restless we feel – and how alone we sometimes feel, too – or that we can’t focus on our work. But we also share the good things: that we have an apple pie in the oven, that we’re taking an online drawing course, finally getting around to tidying up messy rooms (to create a new workplace) or taking a (safe) walk in nature to recharge.
In all the houses, in all the quiet streets that I cycle through on my way to the bakery, it will be no different. That struggle with this new reality. Trying to make something of it. Being a little cut off from your family, friends, colleagues, even your neighbors, requires new ways to find each other.
When I return from my bike ride there is a postcard in my mailbox. And my spirit is lifted, just like that. A funny video appears in my girlfriends’ WhatsApp group. And when I open up my inbox, I see an invitation to a virtual get-together drink with colleagues. Moments later, we’re all sitting and waving to each other from behind our own screens. I once cursed social media, now I am deeply grateful for it so that we can make connections like these.
Life is currently testing us, but beautiful things are also emerging. I’m going to write a stack of postcards this afternoon too…
Text Astrid van der Hulst Translation Julia Gorodecky
