Stories from a pandemic
details, interview and submission
I think so many of us dream of a life we hope to live. But, whether those dreams unfold as we planned or hoped, is not always the case.
Life has a funny way of unraveling and this year we were all thrown a big curveball when a pandemic took hold of our world.
But the thing is that, even though so many of us feel like life has halted … life never stops.
Whether we are out on the front lines or being asked to sit, stay home; life continues to move forward.
And so, all those things in life keep happening, but maybe in some way, being given the time to sit, stay home, or being given the space & time to really look at life, maybe we have been able to see things more clearly or take time to really see what life should or could be like.
Stories from a Pandemic (the working title) is a series of stories of women who are going through something raw, real, & deeply big in their lives during the pandemic of 2020. But, these stories wouldn’t be complete without a follow-up, a follow up to share the growth after the waves settle. When the world has settled and things feel like they have healed, I will re-interview every single woman to share their story in how it has shifted and shaped. It’s to share life, in all it’s beauty & heartbreak, but to share the development and strength off all the women involved; and to share life stories that sometimes we don’t talk about,
These stories are to bring focus all the things that happen in life, but beyond that, to show the development from the time of the pandemic where we are all going through something big together, to beyond.
Women. Mothers. Partners. Daughters. Caregivers. Lovers. Wives. Business owners.
You can touch on any things that feel relevant to your story or what you’ve gone through.
The below recording is to really set the tone of what I think this series will be. Voice has a power and so this is where I use mine.
There are two ways to go about sharing your story, one by voice and one by written word.
Sometimes the power of your voice can be more than written word, or vice versa. Like these recordings I’ve done, you can submit your answer via a voice recording. You can look at the visual questions below and just speak to whatever you see. I think is the way I hope all of you do this, but it might not be for you, and so, you can also submit your answers via written word.
Anything that is relevant to you, anything you want to dive into, anything you want to share; share it. This is totally up to you. I welcome it all.
You can cover anything that is real to you. This must be your story. Not the story of anyone else, but yours… things have or are happening to you.
I will be ghostwriting your story and all stories will be anonymous. If you would like to be a part of this you will have to sign a waiver allowing me to use the story and be a part of the project, once I decide which stories will be a part of the series. Once shared, I will begin the work on creating your piece and will only be selecting 30 women’s stories. If you are ready to share, I would be honoured to do so for you, but if you are not ready and any bit hesitant, then it may not be your time and that is ok. I only want to honour you and make you feel absolutely comfortable in this share. All stories will remain anonymous, but still, it is your story, so you must feel totally comfortable in letting me write it on behalf of you and share it.
Topics that have already been expressed and are being shared:
coming to terms with your relationship not being what you thought it was; starting to truly think about divorce or actually beginning the steps of divorce or separation.
starting out as a single mom in the pandemic
getting pregnant for the first time during the pandemic or giving birth during the pandemic
miscarriage during the pandemic
loss
the shift in your identity as a BIPOC woman as the BLM protests take place and how that affects your voice and the roles in your life
starting to date again after heartbreak
juggling a family and a career all at home during the pandemic
discovering your partner cheated and trying to mend your relationship, or walking away and starting over completely from scratch
learning to forgive your partner and fall in love with them again
losing the ability to keep trying to get pregnant because the pandemic shuts down fertility clinics
losing a loved one (someone very close to you) during the pandemic and not being able to go to their funeral
finding enlightenment in who you are and where you want to be
and so many more….
Sharing your story for Stories from a pandemic.
Above is the voice interview to set the tone and help you feel open to sharing whatever it is you feel called to share. Below are the same questions from the voice recording. Feel free to write your answers or use the questions/prompts below to guide you in your own voice recording.
Please only share that which you are comfortable sharing. The stories will be anonymous but if it doesn’t sit well with you to be open about, that is ok. And if it does, if you feel called to share, I welcome it.
Before we begin let’s set the space for you.
A safe space. Maybe you are seated, or maybe you are laying down. Maybe you have a journal close by. Light a candle, smudge the space. Have a mug or glass of something you can sip on if you need that. And before we start I want you to take the next few moments to just breathe. Put your hand on your heart and breathe in, and out. I’ll guide you through one round of box breathing and if you want to pause the recording to continue, please do.
I’m going to ask a series of questions and touch on a series of topics. Not everything will apply, or maybe a great deal will. The idea behind it is to go deep, to bring up things you might have buried deep within you, things you weren’t sure you should share but hearing these questions, you know you want to share. These questions are to pull out of you your story in all its details and moments, and to go deeper to get it all. It’s ok if your story is not one that is happy, or if it not one full of sadness. Maybe your story is about enlightenment and how this time has brought that on. There is no right and no wrong.
I’m looking to share women’s stories during a pandemic. We have experienced something really big all together and yet all of our stories are completely unique. But, our stories aren’t completely unique as other people are experiencing very similar things to us, and will experience them, and have experienced them. The idea, for me, is to share these anonymous stories and the growth of them from the pandemic to beyond (thru a follow up 1-2 years later). It’s to bring to light the stories that maybe aren’t talked about, honour them and show the growth through time. To even remind you of that growth.
The stories will be accurate to your experience, but through my words.
That trust is huge to me, so thank you for trusting me.
As women we were many hats and have many roles. Those roles are ……Mother. Lover. Artist. Sister. Daughter. Partner. Entrepreneur. Woman. On & on.
I will cover four roles in the below prompts but feel free to go beyond the four if you are called to that…..
SELF.
What is your name?
How do you identify?
How would you describe yourself? How would you describe yourself at the beginning, during and now?
Are you a happy person? Are you someone who struggles with anxiety? How is your mental health? Are you someone full of anxiety? Do you wear your heart on your sleeve? Are you a jealous person? Are you competitive? Are you positive? Negative? Are you a people pleaser?
Do you make time for yourself? What are your self care rituals? Did it change during quarantine? Did you stop caring for yourself? Start caring for yourself? Or did it stay exactly the same and what was that?
Did this time allow you to really go inward and allow you the time to discover yourself? Or, did you lose yourself?
Do you know where you want to be on the other side of this? Where will you be when we do this again?
MOTHER.
skip on through if it doesn’t apply or maybe see if you can take a spin on this… what is that mother role for you? do you want to be a mother? do you have a good mother figure? are you a mother figure to others?
Are you a mother?
Do you have children? If so, how many? How old? Boys or girls?
How do you see yourself as a mother? If you were to describe yourself, how would you do that?
Are you similar to your own mother?
Are you supported as a mother?
Do you feel you have found your footing in being a mother or are you still finding that footing?
Did you give birth during the pandemic? Were you pregnant? Did you get pregnant? Was it a surprise, or planned? How did it feel about being pregnant during a pandemic? How did others make you feel? Did you have support around this? How did you share this news?
Did you or are you going through the fourth trimester during this pandemic?
Did you miscarry during the pandemic? Did you have support around that?
Did you and your partner grieve more than you could have had it not been this time, or do you feel this extra time made it harder? Are you ok?
Are you scared about your children during this pandemic? How careful or extreme or lack are you about the rules during this time?
Do you let anyone through your doors? Are you visiting family and allowing them to be in contact with your children and you? Do you have help? Did you find it incredibly hard to navigate this time with children during a pandemic? Did you feel alienated?
How were your children during this time? Did they regress? Were they affected? Were they scared? Did they understand what was happening? Were they sad? Did they open up to you or become more attached to you? How did that make you feel?
Did you feel like you had to take on the world during this time?
Was your partner home? Were they home working?
Are you a single mom? Were you working during this time? Were you working from home? Are you a front line worker? What does that mean about the way you mother? Does it scare you?
Do you feel you changed as a mother during this time? Do you feel like the time you had made you a better mother? Did you find yourself not wanting this time to end because you actually found yourself leaning into this time with your child/children?
Has your experience as a mother changed?
How did it start, where is it now and where it will be when we have have found ourselves on the other side who do we want to be?
PARTNER.
Are you in a relationship?
Are you married? Are you single? Are you finding love? Are you open to love? Do you believe in love? What is love in your life right now? Has it shifted throughout this time?
Are you Dating? Common law? Long distance relationship? Are you being quarantined away from your partner?
Are you home with your partner more than you ever have because you are both working from home?
Has your life shifted with your love life?
Have you discovered something new about yourself in regards to love? What love it? Who you love?
If you are dating during the pandemic, how are you making this work? Is it the most wonderful thing because everything ahas to be carefully considered and the time to get to know each other outweighs the physical?
Has love stayed the same? Did you maybe face challenges at the beginning? Did quarantine magnify all the things you’ve been ignoring?
Where do you think you will be on the other side? Will you be with this person?
For some of you, maybe not. Maybe you wont find yourself with this person. Maybe you’re thinking about a divorce or separation? Is that your story? How has the quarantine pushed or shaped these thoughts or events in your life?
If you are a parent and raising your child with this person, maybe you’ve realized this isn’t the person you want to raise your child with?
Has your relationship change?
Was it always being questioned, challenged and looked at? Or did it start to unravel?
Dive in, tell me. What is your story with love, with your love, if they are or were your love?
WORK
What do you do for work?
Do you work for a company? Do you own your own company? Are you a stay at home Mom?
Have you fallen even more in love with what you do?
Have you come to realize you dont love what you do?
Where do you see yourself on the other side of this?