Skip to main content

Re-imagining a pandemic through books - what are you reading?

By Felicia Clark. 

As we all know, Covid-19 put a damper on all of our spring plans, summer plans, and travel endeavors. It changes the most in the spring. I love spring. It reminds me of new beginnings.  We had a new beginning, just not the one everyone hoped for. 

I don't know about you, but I tried everything I could to release my Covid anxiety. All through my timeline I saw, push-up challenges shot challenges, and wine.  Everyone was stocking up on wine. This was completely understandable, right? We can't do ANYTHING, we're losing our minds and our jobs, so let's all just get drunk; and exercise.  

And somehow, there was a race for tissue. Nevermind racing for beans and rice or non-perishables. Folks were running for toilet paper. It was insane. No judgment. Well, maybe a little bit. But, hey, it happens. After the Charmin Olympics ended, there was a level of acceptance. This was around the time a lot of us picked up new hobbies, and further exercised self-care. 

I meditated. And I still do. It works wonders for me. I can’t do without it. I also nestled up to a good book, or two. I am a collector of books. I have hundreds of them. SistaGurls, I have no plans of stopping. Books calm me in a way that television never could. After pushups, a bottle of wine, or two, and becoming one with the universe, I decided to dig into my library and escape.

“Becoming”, by FLOTUS Michelle Obama, was the first book that grabbed me. With being stuck inside and death looming outside, I was more than willing to be taken to a time of before; before Trump, before Covid, before empty toilet paper aisles. The first lady’s knack for storytelling had me completely drawn into the storyline. 

I imagined myself playing with her as a kid. I saw myself sitting at the dinner table with her parents and brother.  I was there mentally when she met Barack Obama.  I shared her wedding day with her. The heartbreak and pain from miscarrying. And later, going on the campaign trail. I felt for her, as she was judged and nitpicked. I was able to transport myself to the moment when she and Barack shared their first dance at the Neighborhood Ball. 

At Last...at last... Every page, bringing me closer and closer to her. Idolizing her more than I already did. And it was in those moments that I spent curled up on my couch, I escaped the pandemic. Through my book. With Mimi, at least for a little while.  As a divorcee, it brought renewed hope that love will come along. The kind that makes you want to cuddle and kiss in front of the fireplace...with a glass of wine. And beans and rice on the stove. And an unlimited supply of toilet paper in the linen closet. 

So…your turn... What are you reading?




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ladies, Make Him Act Right! (From a man's perspective)

So ladies, we have a tendency to get advice from women about MEN far more than we should. So I have a special treat today. We're going to get some advice on how to entice, encourage, and exalt a man from you guested it.. A MAN. I picked one, who speaks with the sole purpose to educate. So some of his language may be a bit harder than you're used to but.. you will not be disappointed. Capt SistaGurl Out!  Introducing Tikko Brohey  Ladies do you feel like “dudes ain’t shit” or “dudes don’t act right?” Have you ever thought about the things you do that contribute to that? The answer is probably not.  Now granted there are dudes out there who just ain’t shit, and that’s just what it is. Majority of men are good men. But his partner can often determine just how good he'll actually be. Every woman deserves to be treated like a queen, as every man deserves to be treated like a king. The disconnect comes from when there’s an argument all the King and Queen shit is out the
2 comments
Read more

It's Not Love, it's Love Adjacent

It’s my thought that the heart and the mind take turns in sharing authority in how we pattern our personal decisions. They cannot both be in control at the same time, and I believe that there’s a celestial straw pulling to determine which will rule within each given moment. The dangerous part about this is, sometimes when the heart wins, we forget to use our brain . When this happens, we start making decisions that are completely passion driven, hunger driven, and backed behind a receptor that shouldn’t receive as much showtime as it’s getting. Sometimes you fall in love with someone that is all wrong for you. They don’t feed you spiritually, they don’t feed you mentally, and maybe they don’t respect you. But they have ONE or two things on our list, so we keep them around. But by osmosis, all the signs that you saw in the beginning appear a bit less obvious, and now you THINK you love this person. Your heart is in control and your brain is taking a break, your brain has
Post a Comment
Read more

RAPPER RESET: MAYBE IT IS TIME FOR RAPPERS TO TAKE A SOCIAL MEDIA BREAK

By Capt SistaGurl Once upon a time, in the age of a coke-induced Russell Simmons, rap battles were king, LL Cool J wore a Kangol, and the female rappers were fresh and diligently working their way up to the mainstream within the culture. As the years progressed, and Russell said no to drugs, and yes to very young women, the image of the genre changed, but one thing still reigned true.  RAPPERS RAPPED their frustrations in the studio and on rare occasions award shows and radio stations. There’s a period in between where rap was aligned to violence and our most popular rappers were at the center of a feud, but let’s leave this out for now because those times were outside of the norm. Except for that one time in the studio, 50 got jumped, Murder Inc got raided, and the beef spilled outside of the booth. But that’s really it, right? Well no, not really, it happened a few more times.  BUT PRIMARILY, rappers used their words for a primary pursuit of dominance and it was friendly, and lucrat
1 comment
Read more