As the first lockdown happened in March 2020, friends and connoisseurs told me that it would be a fruitful time for creative individuals. “You have so much time to dream, think and create”. For a moment I too believed in this illusion. The linear equivalence drawn between free time and creativity seemed logical. What it did not describe, however, was the meaning of free time. It is believed that free time is when we are not doing anything. That ‘nothing’ comes from non-participation in physical or intellectual activity that requires the engagement of action and transactions with the outside world. These, we are made to believe, rob us of a disorganized mind. Free time is the opposite! A private, unconditional space that allows our mind and body to dive deep into unexplored depths, free of commitment. I was told that the lockdown provided this opportunity to artists, writers and creative people.
This was not correct. Were we really free? The freedom I speak of is not physical mobility, but emotional and psychological fluidity. An environment where ideas emerge, move, marinate and then – in a burst of inspiration – flow into form. The lockdown was the protest of this state. Clouds covered our minds, a thick fog enveloped our heads forever. The COVID pandemic has not only created misery and fear of death in us, but has also suppressed our sense of awakening. We were trapped in a cold prison with high walls, which had turned off all the lights. Our mind was permanently drawn to numbers. How many got infected today, we wondered? how many died The words we typed most often on our keyboards were covid, corona, covid-19, pandemic, covid statistics or covid meter. We were desperate to understand more about this virus. Which vaccine can we get and when?
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