As I Hole Up at Home

By Stephanie Gibson

As I hole up at home, the rhythm of the day – rise, run, coffee, child wrangling, commute, work, home, dinner, more wrangling, bed, repeat – completely upended, I’m trying to establish some routines that make this new normal feel more, normal. Besides taking many deep breaths, spending time researching how one homeschools, and setting up my Nevada Humanities home office, here are a few things that bring some peace, joy, and connection to my days: 

I’m currently reading The Topeka School by Ben Lerner, although I’m constantly thinking about our 2020 Nevada Reads book, Severance by Ling Ma. Severance tells the a post-apocalyptic story of a group of people who have survived a world-wide fever outbreak (I know I know), but its satirical take on work, capitalism, and productivity had me giggling at times, and the story is as much about zombies as it is about the families and alliances we form, and what we owe one another in the end. Also on my night stand: Dominicana by Angie Cruz, and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. You can order all these books for curb-side pickup at your favorite independent bookstores. 

Learning the ins-and-outs of Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts seems like a new part-time job, as we all figure out a way to connect with family and friends, near and far. Some neighborhood pals have organized a weekly Thursday night happy hour, and we also hosted a virtual talent show. My daughter and husband performed a jazzy version of Heart and Soul on piano and guitar. Have you too found that you are actually connecting *more* with friends, in this time of social distancing? 

My husband and I have been ending our evenings binge-watching the Israeli program Shtisel. I describe this show like the American family drama, This Is Us, but set in the ultra-Orthodox Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem. Its stories of love and longing, and loyalty and virtue, can be soap-y, but it’s been extremely engaging to enter into a world that while totally unlike my own, tells these universal stories and reminds us that we are all a little bit the same. 

Our team at Nevada Humanities knows that a healthy community is one grounded in connection, and while we can’t currently meet together, we are developing programs (virtual and otherwise) whereby we can still connect. Stay tuned! In the meantime, you might be interested in what our colleagues at Humanities Washington are up to, an excellent program called #cabinfeverquestions, a program that poses daily questions designed to encourage introspection and deeper connections. Isn’t that what it’s all about? 

Stephanie Gibson is the Assistant Director of Nevada Humanities.