*NOTE: I am using this post for my Creativity and Community class project, which will focus on how the coronavirus has impacted my life and the lives of those around me, specifically in regard to our sense of community. This is post 1/4.*
The two articles I shared in my Creativity & Community class Facebook page concerned how coronavirus has impacted parks in New York City and how a community on Reddit was formed through discussion on the coronavirus.
What I find interesting about the two articles is how vastly different they are in tone. On the one hand, we have an article that is talking about how parks have become a battleground in New York because they are densely populated and people were still going there, despite being told not to gather in large groups. Though the “stay at home” order allows for people to go outside for a walk, it prohibits mass gatherings, and in New York City, parks are a major attraction. So, everyone meeting in the park is no good when it comes to slowing the spread of coronavirus.
On the other hand, a Reddit community was formed and made up of thousands of members, many who are experts on the coronavirus. It’s a place where people are welcome to gather because it’s virtual. You can’t get the coronavirus through the Internet.
Personally, I’m working *mostly* from home (I’m a journalist; not all news happens from inside my house). While Van Wert isn’t so densely populated, I have noticed an uptick in the number of people out and about on trails and at parks due to the virus. These are places I go every day thanks to my dogs, but now others are utilizing them too. It actually became so bad that on the second day of Ohio’s “stay at home” order, Van Wert’s Parks and Rec Department went out and taped off all the playground equipment and the pickle ball/basket ball/tennis courts. Now, no one is able to use the equipment until this is all over. Sure, you can still walk the trials (which is what I use the parks for), but by taping off all the equipment, the Parks Department is trying to deter people from gathering in a typically social place.
On the flip side of all of that though, locally, I have seen more people utilizing online communities such as Facebook in a purposeful and positive way (just like in the Reddit article). Today, I wrote a story on a movement called A World of Hearts that was started through a Facebook group. People all over Van Wert (and all over the world) have been decorating their windows with hearts in order to inspire people and to come together with a message of hope.
It’s pretty clear that the coronavirus has impacted the ways in which we interact on a daily-basis. Yes, we can’t see each other physically at parks, but we can still find ways to be a community and to support each other. Coronavirus can’t kill creativity and it can’t kill community where community wants to thrive. People need other people, and whether that is through a group like Reddit or through a movement like A World of Hearts, people will always find each other on some level.