I don’t know about y’all, but I’m ready to celebrate something so welcome to my first “LIST” of the year just in time for SPRING…
TOP 5 WAYS QUARANTINE COULDN’T KILL CREATIVITY
Despite the disruptions of the last year, human ingenuity and creativity brought forth some truly amazing things as we all coped with being on lockdown. This list is by no means exhaustive but these are the first five that came to mind for me. Hit me up in the comments and let me know what things you noticed that showed the way creativity has helped us all throughout the past year.
New Fashion Lines Brought the DRAMA
I admit that I have spent SO much time on YouTube this past year and one of the beautiful discoveries that I made in that time was that some of my favorite channels have drawn the attention of fashion houses and that has resulted in the sharing of new collection debuts in “commercial fashion shows” that play between my content creator’s videos. While it wasn’t the same as being able to attend a Fashion Week in person, I very much enjoyed the presentations of these new fashions. The choreography and musical scoring of the shows made me smile so much because you could feel the passion that the directors and model/performers put into the production. I am so glad to have a way to view and support fashion even from inside of lockdown until we can safely gather for fashion week events again.
Comedians Rocked the Mic
When the world shut down, KevOnStage figured out not only how to pivot, but he also made room on the comedian life boat for others. I am a proud member of the Stage Krew and I can’t thank the folks at KevOnState Studios enough for all of the laughter that has helped me weather the storm of this pandemic. (Y’all, go get their app and follow them on YouTube also.) A few other honorable mentions are The Holderness Family who took song parodies to a whole new level and David A. Arnold who let us all know that these times Ain’t For The Weak.
Cyber Cinema Raced To The Rescue
We saw content creators pump up the volume during these lockdowns! I guess when you’re stuck at home, with nothing to do, and your phone has a camera on it… INDIE MAGIC! Even I was inspired to stop putting off several creative film projects that had been on my list and lo and behold, I pushed out my Showing Our Sass Vlog, my Go Marta, Go! Travel Web Series and won two filmmaking awards during this quarantine. My friend and fellow creative, @iampatrickladonis filmed Season 3 of his hit web series SCALES and got picked up by international streaming service, Revry. And then there’s my friend and mentor, Maximus Wright, who introduced me to the world of film festivals via the Tech Jackson Film Festival. My circle of content creators support exploded in 2020 and it has been so good for my soul.
Parents and Educators Literally Flipped the Classroom
When schools and daycares closed and parents were left struggling for help to support the learning of their children the search engines were burning up as people desperately looked for solutions. One of my favorite people came up with one for families with early learners in the form of Dr. Marta’s School Readiness Institute (SRI) Digi. As schools struggled to provide help to their students and parents it became abundantly clear that the resources just weren’t there for early learners who were not prepared to be moved to online learning. Imagine how you would have felt to be a brand new Kindergartener and forced to sit in front of a computer screen for long periods of time listening to and watching your teacher remotely and having no in person play time with your classmates. No bueno! I love Dr. Marta for creating a resource that provides practical and accessible guidance for parents of early learners to make sure they are building their literacy fundamentals and getting a Good Start to their educational journey.
Virtual Events Opened “Travel Experiences” To New People and Places
The Pandemic cancelled so many of my travel plans including my plans to attend the Audacity Fest that was planned for 2020 in New York City. The thanks that I owe to the amazing Nomadness Tribe for the emotional support I needed to process those disappointments was clutch. In the midst of all that, the Tribe spun and created a digital experience that rocked my world and opened up new collaborations and project ideas that directly blessed my life.
This has been a tough year with a lot of loss and turmoil. Yet, it is so important that we also look to the light. It is important that we feed our souls and nurture the art and culture that bridges divides and binds us together in our human story.
Now it’s your turn. What are some of the ways creativity helped you manage and excel during quarantine.
She believes that working in our creative callings does not have to be synonymous with being a “starving artist” and helps creatives master the business skills and strategies they need to work in their gifts.
TheWRITEaddiction.com 