It goes without saying, I guess, that I prepared a continuation of the story about the controversial document entitled "04_Tamnica_Jusovaca_Kuca_crnogorske_istorije" - behind which stands the business entity "Massiv. Architecture and Design" doo, Podgorica. I will squeeze that story out, I promise, to the last drop - but at this moment - which is filled with anxiety and uncertainty - I feel obliged to write two or three about isolation...
It is not my intention to talk about the benefits of isolation - isolation is a gift - Charles Bukowski was right - isolation is a necessary prerequisite for any serious rise of the unfettered spirit - however paradoxical it may sound - but I still lean more towards the attitude of the painter Gulley Jimson Jimson - a character from the novel "Horse's Mouth" by Joyce Cary - who claimed that after three days (and three nights) in a warm home - with a dear wife, sweet children and regular meals - his potent, swirling, wild visions - which he could only imagine on the freshly plastered walls of approximate dimensions of 12X7.5 meters - reduced to sweet little jokes - which are easily packed into 20 cm side squares - and hung on the freshly painted walls in the dining room.
So, I admire anyone who is able to rise above this difficult predicament and bear the fruits of the spirit - if there are any - and for the rest of us, there is New York Magazine fortnightly (nymag.com) for comfort.
Why NY Magazine? Well, because the first thing you'll dig is a fresh text titled "How can I focus on work right now?" (How Am I Supposed to Focus on Work Right Now?).
"Like everything else," writes Alison Green, "it's horrible to work in these conditions: people are out of work or on forced vacations that will last God knows how long, and the unemployment rate is skyrocketing." Those who have a job try not to lose it, while at the same time taking care of the children and jumping over other household hurdles. Some are required to be present at the workplace. So it's no surprise that people have a lot of questions about work - the most important of which is how to survive at work under these unprecedented conditions."
And then there is a series of amazing questions - asked by readers - and wise answers from Mrs. Green - which is the perfect opportunity to, in parallel, consider our situation - as casually, from afar - as always. The uncertainty facing New York's (both upper and lower) middle class differs, somewhat, from the uncertainty facing us (the highly educated precariat - we who are highly skilled at survival - discipline: day by day). The key difference would be, for example, in the relationship to work - there, work is a cult - sacred - which implies high professional standards and unavoidable professional ethics - because, accordingly, any form of irresponsibility or negligence is severely sanctioned - which is by no means the case here - especially in the civil service - especially at higher and highest levels. Again, both there and here you don't know what tomorrow brings - nor is anyone serious willing to make public predictions - but there at least those fundamentally important things are being talked about - and seriously - and answers are sought. The second question is whether there are any answers - probably not - but constant pressure is exerted and an environment is created in which people who make decisions and how they take into account public opinion.
NY Magazine is, as I said - a biweekly - and the editorial concept - as well as the form of the texts - is subordinate to that fact. They are mostly essays - very subjective/personal and very witty insights into hot topics - insights which, as a rule, rest on the author's absolute knowledge. It only reaches for selected facts - on the basis of which arguments are carefully built and well-thought-out, firm positions are created. The specificity of the stories published in NY Magazine is in a kind of spillover from topic to topic - or specifically - in the ability of the authors to move their stories from the narrowest frames and to thread them through a whole series of parallel, seemingly unrelated frames - just like New York - because if there is a context that goes beyond all possible frameworks - and attempts to be determined - then it is the context of the city that never sleeps.
Behind the innocuous title "Eating for Two" - and a very potent lead: "I shared a love for food with my husband. And then he cheated on me in the seventh month of pregnancy" - lies the intimate story of Lorin Bans (Lauren Bans) about... well, about the imperative of a healthy and proper diet, mainly - but also about everything - just about everything else.
But let's go back to isolation...
The penultimate issue of NY Magazine - which was published on March 16 - was preceded by a period in which New Yorkers, day by day, became aware of the danger - the evil nature of COVID-19 - as well as the fact that the virus was definitely received - because the barricades were not raised on time - as evidenced by the front page: "Don't Panic" - Don't panic - with the fact that the "Don't" has been crossed out - so that only "Panic" remains.
"Every day in March was an eternity for us," says David Haskell (David Haskell - editor-in-chief), "the news was changing faster than we thought possible. In New York, the psychological temperature has fluctuated violently and that slight chill from the beginning of the month - now it seems to us like something long past and forgotten".
Then we have a text by Molly Fischer, entitled "A City of Bodies" - which begins with a general (pre-pandemic) philosophy of behavior on the New York subway, "... pretending not to be a body and helping others to be that's how they act. I try not to touch anything; to be unaware of the smell. I don't eat, I don't remove a strand when it falls over my eyes. I turn into eyes and ears, I am compact and calm, trying to move towards the middle of the carriage as best I can".
What follows is an awesome giant slalom (there is also an audio version - lie down, put your headphones on your ears and indulge in eighteen minutes of top-notch journalistic skill - and a pleasant, ringing female voice) through all the gates that we had to set up for ourselves in order to cope with COVID-19 - from hand washing and jokes about buying toilet paper and cans - through the real mania of hoarding toilet paper and cans, and then the maturing awareness of the necessity of flattening the infection curve - to complete isolation...
In that name, on the cover of the last issue we have a dystopian atmosphere with a poetic nuance: a musician playing the double bass on the roof of his building. The photo was taken from his window by one of NY Magazine's contributors in strict isolation - and it testifies, first of all, to the living spirit of the most cosmopolitan city in the world - a spirit that is stronger than any plague.
The entire last issue - cover to cover - is devoted to isolation. 44 tips on how to overcome isolation are given - and explained in detail - the first of which is:
Just slow down..
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
