Isolated magazine

For and by people who keep their distance.

Created by Andrew Losowsky and you

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SO THAT WE CAN KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOU

THEN COME TO community.isolated.life AND JOIN US IN OUR COMMUNITY

I’m closing this doc for edits now, so we can continue conversation over in the Isolated community. I’ve moved all of these amazing ideas to the community.

These are initial notes and ideas, none of this is set in stone. Please add your own thoughts below or as comments, and mark them with your name or initials if it’s something you might be interested in doing. You’ll also need to fill out the form so that we can be in touch about making it happen.

This is not a for-profit project, it’s for us and for raising money for causes related to the virus.

When you fill out the form, I add you to our mailing list for future emails. Here’s the first email that went out (and the first process committee task has already started but there will be plenty more opportunities to get involved)

Topics:^{[a][b][c][d][e][f][g]}

• What the illness means and how we can better support our neighbors^[h]
• What people are doing and how their lives are different, for better and worse^{[i][j][k][l][m]}
• Ways they are finding to connect with others through isolation
• The history of crisis a column, where we discuss how communities built resiliency (I am thinking the initial years of HIV/AIDS)
• Related to the above: Shame, secrecy, and stigma, and safety^[n][o]
• Who has bread? A shopping guide
• Coronacooking: Recipes to cook and enjoy at home + practical advice on batch-cooking → could add: recipes to cook with the food items that aren’t currently in high demand (i.e what’s left in empty supermarkets). [Melissa L]
• How isolation is changing higher education (and should it?)(Weronika U)
• What isolation looks like in different places, for different people
• Group games you can play on video hangouts to feel less alone^[p][q]
• Collective art made via computers/phones
• Data visualizations/photo studies etc of your house^[r]
• A short questionnaire for anyone to complete who wants to participate with low level of commitment, including: photo of your work space (if working remotely), photo of your stockpile, new recipes/drinks you’ve made
• Interview a stranger over the phone (CY) (WP)
• Interview a neighbor from a distance of 6 feet or more
• Introvert’s guide to reaching out to people while self-isolating [AH]
• Extrovert’s guide to being inside without people
• Exquisite corpse poems? created in group chats
• How to reboot your life while on quarantine ^[s][t][u][EA]
• Zoom conference open mic variety shows^[v][w] [EA]
• How not to be racist in a quarantine situation^{[x][y][z][aa]}
• How to talk to your friends about their risk appropriateness (or lack thereof)^[ab]

• Related: The frustration of watching people treat the situation less seriously than they should -- packed bars, hoarding shallots -- feeling like you’re watching people make this worse in real time.

• Nothing specific but I want to give space to people to express themselves in the medium of their choosing - could be fiction, illustration, code, zine, etc.(Weronika U)
• Using this time to build a new appreciation for culture? (with streaming symphony performances, opera live streams, videos from people like Yo Yo Ma - #songs for comfort) - CN^[ac]
• Trying to think of an angle still - but something with the pivot to online ed - CN ^[ad]
• How to manage anxiety in a time of pandemic
• How to deal with disordered eating in self isolation - Winn P; [AH]
• Carving out a small space to mourn things/memories/losses unrelated to the virus— the parts of life that are sad and don’t stop magically for the pandemic but still deserve to be regarded and processed [Aaron K.]
• Conversely, space for the small wonders^[ae] people are finding amidst the adjustment to a new lifestyle (for many), a section about little things that keep us happy or bring joy [AK]
• Several people with anxiety disorders are reporting on Twitter a sense of calm or validation in these trying times. Certainly not everyone is experiencing their anxiety that way but could be interesting to explore it. [KO^[af]]
• What we can all learn from disability advocates about accessibility AS^{[ag][ah][ai][aj]}
• People with disabilities and chronic illnesses don’t want the world to “return to normal”. Abled people’s “normal” wasn’t great for us. We want a new normal -- compassion, understanding, flexibility in how we work, consume and love [EB]
• The power of ritual in times of crisis. (The broad strokes being that often focusing on and creating rituals can do wonders for mental health. Something as simple as making a morning cup of coffee or rituals around working from home) Luis S^[ak][al]
• I have two nephews with autism and I worry about how the disruption in their routine will affect them. Luis S.
• The struggle of not being able to visit elderly^[am] (or any) relatives 
• Reviews of the gigs we didn’t see, the conferences we didn’t go to, the shows we didn’t watch, the games that didn’t happen^[an]
• Moments that are particularly memorable/emotionally marked as being “before” - and what is poignant about them (collective writing-RS)
• Strategies for managing WFH vs personal time and keeping separation between the two. Particularly when colleagues have different capacities within the situation (set boundaries, stay compassionate).
• Being at home when you have young children: isolation where you’d love some alone-time (AH - my self isolation would be so much more fun/valuable/uplifting if i didn’t have my toddler around)
• Something about the way that time is being discussed in the context of the virus -- we are a week behind Italy, for example, but also how individuals here in the US (where I am) have chosen to "pull the trigger" on self-isolating/quarantining on different timelines (or not) -- not sure if there's a story here, but it feels like people are experiencing this at different speeds
• Remote dinner parties with friends via Google hangouts - and other ways people are dealing with social isolation (like Italians singing off balconies) [Melissa Lq]
• I grew up with a parent with severe agoraphobia (she once didn't leave the house for a decade); agoraphobia is so misunderstood. I'm curious on two levels; how enforced home time feels to me, as her child, & what isolation means to agoraphobics- Sarah d^[ao][ap]
• American abundance versus scarcity; how can we use this minute to shift from more, more,more (panic buying, huge marooning cars etc) to communalism? & Can we?
• Un/employment during a pandemic - how the job market has/will change; how to stay motivated/social; changing jobs/building new skills [AH]
• Building new skills and creating community around learning [AH]^[aq][ar]

• I love the above and may also add profiling people or small organisations who are reaching out to support freelancers who have lost jobs for the next couple of months - with advice, virtual hang-outs and virtual space to discuss how to re-organise, support one another emotionally and financially. (SS)

• I have an hypothesis since we don’t know if someone who doesnt have signs and symptoms to infect it - I feel like I should take this opportunity for science and test that out. Go out and talk to people and live stream on twitter or so/ youtube? Any thoughts/comments? (MC)
• Talk to people within the anti-vax movement about how they’re reacting to this crisis (DA)

And ^[as]

• Post-corona World: This crisis will eventually subside but all signs point to our world being forever changed. What does this look like economically/financially, politically, socially, technologically, culturally? We look at possible futures through short sci-fi vignettes, with tips about how one can prepare for an eventuality. Future-proofing. (MG)^[at][au]
• Kids-shows that don’t suck for adults (A.Stupi)

• How to exercise in your house (A.Stupi)

• Profile of a group of parents or tips on how to create a co-op of childcare coverage (A.Stupi)
• List of National businesses doing right by employees (A.Stupi)
• A how-to craft project for first time crafters? (A.Stupi)
• Interview w homeschoolers for advice/ tips ( A.Stupi)
• How to talk to our boomer parents about isolating and why it’s important for them, too, that they are in a risk group even if they are still healthy, working & don’t feel like they are in their 60s/70s. How to keep them amused, why it’s frustrating for us being far away & having no control (LH)
• Health anxiety sufferers are 10 steps ahead on coping mechanisms (LH)
• Could Coronavirus bring back our sense of community? (AG) (WP)
• Isolated Translated: Translated personal self-isolation stories from Italy, Spain, Iran, around the world - spreading solidarity and tips (TT)^[av]
• Coping with anxiety and loss
• A meditation on the role of the individual in this crisis. What responsibilities do we bear and what sacrifices should we each make? Or should our energy be focused on governments, corporations, and collective actors whose choices have broader reaching implications? Josh M.
• What we can learn from those in Hong Kong who have been social distancing for two months. Tara C
• Should you go and vote in the primaries? What do doctors say? Tara C
• The situation for migrants & refugees who are especially impacted by travel bans/xenophobia/reduced access to social supports in various countries (CK)
• Who needs help. Regionalized list of isolated, at-risk neighbors who need help. Rx pickup, groceries, a simple call to check up on them, etc (MM)
• Shops to support. Regionalized list of shops that are open and whose revenue has been impacted by racism and xenophobia. (MM)
• Humor pieces about the mix of kids and WFH. Inspired by BBC interview with American journalist whose toddler, then infant, and them wife made cameo appearances. Wired’s EIC snared a snippet this week of being on zoom call with rest of Condé Nast’s EICs and his (6 y.o.?) went walking by in an inflatable penguin costume. Could expand to include animal companions. Had a colleague confront a Skye interview and her cat went walking by (between her and the monitor) (MM)
• Bosses who are getting it right during this era, and what it is they’re doing. With a counterpart where folks can layout the ridiculousness that is their boss and/or company’s handling of this time. (MM)
• Collective sourcing of entertainment,“If you like “X” (book, movie, tv show, etc.) you might also like “X”” to help overcome the shortcomings of algorithms and ux decisions that keep showing you the same thing or new things that are consistently wrong. (MM)
• Teenagers and the coronavirus - how this is affecting their psyches, how to help them cope and thinking about what impact this will have on them as young adults (NJK)
• The stress and unbelievable strain of a family member being diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer during this time of COVID-19 (NJK)
• Diasporas and those who were hoping to travel home for Easter x 2 (taking into consideration both Catholic & Orthodox Easter as they’re on different dates), but also diasporas in general - how do they feel about friends & family back home - are they lonely here - what kind of support do they need? (SS)

• Seconding this - being an expat and unable to get home for family (JL)

• How to work on projects from home for creative college courses (LJ)
• Coping with addiction/maintaining sobriety while in self-isolation
• The thin line between “Holyday” and “Corona days” in the daily routine of a kid. Yesterday my boy went down to take photographs to things that he have never noticed before. It’s a new way of looking at things. (L.Schutz)
• What it means to show up for people we don’t know (physical distancing) and how that might translate to political solidarity for people we don’t know.
• Caring for unpartnered, high-risk friends/chosen family who live alone, being unpartnered/living along and high-risk and needing folks who will care for you.
• What it really means to be at-risk and not have the option to just stay home: workplaces, insurance, being a caregiver, and the high cost of living while poor in a pandemic.
• Domestic or Intimate partner abuse/violence under quarantine: when staying home is more dangerous than the disease.

• Study the impact of this mass remote working experiment on the air quality of different big cities across the world. This could potentially prove the upsides of shifting to remote work on a more frequent basis (Prashanth)
• “The Machine Starts.” EM Forster has this short story about technologically mediated isolation and separation from a toxic world. I’m curious about what it means in terms of culture and privilege that some of us are able to enter into self-imposed exile rather seamlessly and whether this says a bit about the economic and structural inequities of the US today. (Halavais)
• the impact of the actual virus and related travel restrictions & quarantine on those of us trying to have a baby / going through fertility treatment
• In the UK the government has decided to not test the general population, how might we devise a self reporting mechanism to provide the kind of data needed in the global research community. Would this add value or create noise? - Ale
• Podcasts and social distancing - the parasocial quality of podcasts, and ways that people are using them as a means to connect virtually (Spinelle)
• Things you can grow at home yourself (a guide to growing all the resources you need so you’re not so reliant on supermarket purchasing) - JdH
• It’s a weird time to be locked down by governments we do not trust. (AMC)
• What’s the purpose of not having a purpose? Time to learn to value the “dolce fare niente” and the body/mind stillness. (DLS)
• Overheard at the home office - a running list of things our kids have been saying (CWS)
• The Climate Crisis is still a thing - how do we keep fighting while we’re worried about Coronavirus (CWS)
• Similar to disability advocates, climate advocates also don’t want things to go back to normal.  Connected to post-Corona futures, what permanent shifts to air travel, food systems, and working styles might we imagine? (MLA)
• How to help people who need it even when there’s not a pandemic? Are CashApp donations via Twitter making a difference? Are there better ways?  (CWS)
• Why am I still seeing Twitter ads for Fasting? A rant (CWS)
• How is the Peloton community reacting to Coronavirus? (CWS)
• How to be nice while standing 6 feet apart, a guide (CWS)
• A letter to my dog whilst WFH (LB)
• School closures in Europe - From the students' point of view, not the politicians
• Why does everyone suddenly have their personal freedom restricted?
• The ways people are coming together. I live alone in Barcelona, yet feel so happy and alive right now. People are actually making landline calls. Learning technology and starting WhatsApp groups. It’s a time outside of time that we may not have the chance to experience again.
• And, is domestic violence going up? There must be tens of thousands, if not 100s of thousands, of people in Barcelona living in grim cramped conditions, extended families in single rooms, people used to only seeing each other at day end, if at all, and suddenly together, inside, 24 hours a day.
• How Animal Crossing helps me and others socialize during COVID-19 isolation [MAC]

Notes:

We need to make sure this doesn’t come across only as whimsical and silly fun. While some parts can be about distraction, we have to accept that a lot of people, including most likely people who join this project, are going to die as a result of this terrible virus. Others will enter a period of profound job, housing, and food insecurity. We need to acknowledge and respect that, and hopefully support each other in this, while also providing an escape for those who want one. (Maybe something here about the mourning and mourning processes?)

This should be a creative outlet to feel less helpless and hopeless, to provide a collective escape and to bring together a global community of makers who want to be part of something while sitting at home.

It also can be a place to be scared and to mourn. We may want to establish entirely separate parts for that tonal difference. 2nd that perhaps request pseudonyms only for any personal stories of this type? Possibly longer or more frequent writers could be referred to pros? Mourning is not easy work.

We start online, and make something printed in the future.

Charities we could raise money for:

• People who until recently worked in industries destroyed by the virus^[ax][ay]
• People with high medical insurance bills because of the virus
• Flint, Michigan where people can’t wash their hands because they still don’t have running water (Legal^[az] questions may be sticky https://www.npr.org/2020/01/21/798331185/supreme-court-allows-flint-water-lawsuits-to-move-forward-officials-not-immune) Italicized because what you don’t want to do in a crisis is inflame anger or fear. Legal is irrelevant if you have read King.
• People who support the elderly
• Doctors charities (doctors without borders perhaps) Luis S.
• Independent journalists who may have lost income
• Food banks
• Crisis Centers (Displaced or in Distress)?
• Mental health resources
• Hospitality/service industry workers who depend on tips
• Charities that support folks experiencing homelessness or survivors of domestic violence (populations that are further marginalized by home-quarantine). (Second this -- many of these charities are beginning to struggle as volunteers cancel and fundraising events are cancelled)
• Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders
• Small business relief funds for businesses who have been hit? Thinking in particular about Chinese and Asian businesses that faced a lot of racism and xenophobia
• How my co-workers helped me keep calm
• State-by-state essays reflecting restrictions in all 50 U.S. states. Happy to find writers and edit these. (JF)^[ba]

Inspirations:

• https://twitter.com/leonardocarella/status/1238511612270690305
• Sleepathome Camp
• QuarantineChat
• Stranded magazine : Portfolio
• #COVID2019 #Cripthevote
• https://twitter.com/LauraBenanti/status/1238540113795309569
• https://twitter.com/erikhinton/status/1238526076080410624?s=21
• Quarantine Book Club
• How to Talk to Older People About the Risks of COVID-19 | Elemental
• https://twitter.com/jonniker/status/1239967180709441537?s=21
• https://twitter.com/publicroad/status/1240644137847840775

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but sometimes people intending with the purest hearts can hurt accidently. Most of this looks fine, but stressed people are highly sensitive to criticism, and even suggestions in the kindest tone may feel that way to them in the moment. There are rule for most “official non-profits” about going in groups, confidentiality, etc. If you haven’t already, that is definitively something you will want to do before any kind of personal contact. << Free advice, delete if you feel irelevant.

Obviously a person who is writing healthy recipes can share those but even then common allergies might be pointed out, or noted. Basically, task should fit experience, credentials though for anything that starts to feel like crisis counseling, or get someone who is, and learn. Does this make any kind of sense, in the objections, suggestions?Andrew here - Thank you for your feedback and suggestions. I’ll keep them in mind. You’re welcome, hope it was helpful.