Caring to share: Inspirations during isolation
Pic courtesy Ashini Jayasinghe
The pandemic struck suddenly, and within a matter of days cases escalated and curfew was imposed on the island. The change was so sudden it caught many off guard, and most people struggled to adjust to the new environment. However, somthing else started happening. Social media was being used to connect and help others through these times in creative ways.
As our law enforcement and medical forces worked tirelessly to combat the pandemic, and charities and relief efforts reached out to those in need, there were those who made sure that overall the community at large remained positive. Here are a few inspiring initiatives that made some buzz during this period:
Virtual Writing Hour with Asha De Vos
Among the few people happy for some extra time were the writing community, who found in isolation a chance to sit down with their writing. But with the stress of sudden change and the looming pandemic, productivity was a difficult thing to keep up. Inspiration had left them.
Asha De Vos started virtual writing hour on her instagram account to combat this sentiment and to connect with other writers, and build inspiration. Every day at 9.30am, she would go live from her page, connect with other writers, then disband, for an hour to work on whatever writing she could. At 10.30am, she would meet her followers again on live, and recap what they had covered.
The initiative quickly kicked off, with hundreds of writers using the set time to be productive, and magnifying the collective community feeling of being inspired together.
Going live for Kindness with Sharan Velauthan
In an effort to uplift the general mood, Sharan Velauthan started a series of live videos each day from his Instagram account, called ‘Going Live for Kindness’ featuring different guests each day, conversing on the current situation to global issues to tips for feeling like yourself.
‘Going Live for Kindness’ continued for 21 days and featured 100 guests inspiring and uplifting the community. Sharan’s aim with this programme ? To build more of a community, kindness, and change.
Startup Webinars SL
Recognizing the shift to digital networks, a Facebook community quickly learned the importance of staying connected, and digital learning. Combining the two, the group “Startup Webinars Sri Lanka” was born.
Attracting a community of online learners and entrepreneurs, the group quickly grew to more than 1200 members within a matter of a few weeks. As popularity grew, more and more groups began hosting webinars, until it became a collaboration among multiple entities all seeking to educate the rapidly growing online community of Sri Lanka.
Art therapy
Using creativity to overcome negativity is what Art Therapy Sri Lanka and Yasodhara Pathanjali had in mind when they began their online creative segment.
Art Therapy Sri Lanka released multiple YouTube videos with small activities to de-stress yourself, with exercises for relaxation and calmness imbued in them. Yasodhara started a small programme free for those who wanted to use art to work through the emotions isolation brought with it, through her Instagram account.
Globally, the practice has evolved to become a movement called #coronart, where people share various creative pieces inspired through isolation and the ongoing pandemic.
Creative Hands
Another community using the experience in a positive way were the local cosplay community. A number of home cosplays and makeup looks were showcased to general amazement during this time, with the Geek Club of Sri Lanka actually conducting a cosplay ‘Don’t Rush’ challenge.
SFX artist Opula Fonseka turned heads with her many concepts and elaborately detailed costumes and effects, including a concept of COVID19 itself. Popular cosplayer and makeup artist Ashini Jayasinghe also showcased multiple inspired looks with beautiful makeup effects.
Life Short Film Competition
Originally planned to be held in a much more conventional manner, the first iteration (hopefully of many) of Life Short Film Competition was unexpectedly derailed with the declaration of curfew. Not to be deterred, the team, led by Rajeev Wickramaratne, changed the rules, making it a isolation inspired competition instead.
Teams were challenged to coordinate and work remotely, and make short films from home. And they delivered, with more than 10 teams successfully creating productions in isolation.
Sculpting away the boredom
Aishwarya Tennakoon is well known for his sculptures. His work has a large fanbase, and local and international recognition. When curfew took effect, Aishwarya decided to use his newfound time building new sculptures, tributes to various movies and shows he loved, and even classical historical pieces. His work is a splash of positivity and can be found at Tenai Workshop on Instagram at www.instagram.com/tenaiworkshop/
Quarantine Stories and Poems
Quarantine Stories was a local initiative calling for entries from writers about this time and Quarantine Stories aims to publish the top 100 entries in a book to capture the essence of how the community felt during this pivotal time.
Another similar global initiative is Global Age Poetry, that began conducting a weekly poetry competition through Instagram throughout the month of May. Giving weekly prompts, global age poetry encouraged writers to let go and write any form of poetry.