03/25: Is this the birth of a new Renaissance?
I’m Nick and this is your daily COVID-19 update. All data from JHU CCSE. If you find this newsletter useful or uplifting, please forward it to a friend.
Europe
211 735 confirmed cases ( + 26 671 from yesterday)
19 606 recovered
12 028 deceased
Top affected countries
Each day I will share something that gives me hope. Something that inspires me in these challenging times. Sometimes that will be good news on COVID-19 (there is, and will be, good news!), resources to keep us busy during quarantine, or simply something I think might bring a spark of light to your day.
This is my way of saying: “Sure, the world’s on fire - but look, there’s also this”.
A new wave of creativity?
Twitter has been ablaze with suggestions on how to make the most of our quarantine, with many technical founders suggesting we use it to become more productive and creative - sometimes ignoring the fact that most of us are actually pretty busy living our lives, especially now that we’ve have suddenly been promoted to Chief Children’s Officer in addition to our day job. But creativity does have a role and function in these challenging times: amongst other things, it is a means for our mind to express itself, to make sense of the world and to redefine our place within it.
Many of the people whom I’ve spoken to these recent days, seem to have rekindled a creative spark within themselves and to have either picked up new hobbies, or dusted of ones they hadn’t been able to make time for previously. My own household has, in the span of a couple of weeks, transformed itself into a musical and creative playground with leather-crafting tools and an electronic drumset as unexpected new arrivals.
How many other people are similarly inclined under these circumstances? Might there be an overall tendency to creative outlets as a coping mechanism? Could this lead to a new wave of creative output during and after the COVID-19 crisis?
A recent article on Acid Rant, a Toronto based youth movement focused on fostering a community of critically thinking creative youth that want to change the world, argues that not only will this period of forced reclusion lead to an increased creative output, but that it might actually bring about a new Renaissance.
Every single great cultural movement has started because of a great tragedy. The harsh reality of slavery gave birth to the beauty of the blues which gave birth to rock and roll, country music, soul music and artists like Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and changed the course of modern American history. That music became the backbone of black culture in America and that along with the socioeconomic state of African Americans and the rise of the crack epidemic gave birth to Hip Hop which influenced a young black man from the south side of Chicago to grow up and become the first black president. Art has always influenced the trajectory of the world. The world's reactions to this pandemic will spark a lot of ideas and rhetoric. This will no doubt be the birth of the next major artistic movement that will affect the trajectory of the world. We are currently at the dawn of the New Renaissance.
Is this an overly naive and optimistic way of looking at our current circumstances? I would say: almost certainly
… but what if it’s not?
I think we could use a little more naive optimism right now - often it’s exactly what the doctor ordered to put things in motion, to convince us to undertake new endeavours that might just change the world for the better.
Listen, if nothing else R.R.Martin might just finish the final part of his Game Of Thrones saga - so there’s that to be optimistic about at least!
I leave you with one of the rap artists that have inspired the author of the Acid Rant article:
That’s it for today! Wash your hands and, please, be kind 🥰
Nick (from Sunny Singapore)