I wish I had a few good paragraphs in store detailing my walk and journey. Unfortunately I haven’t had the privilege.
I’ve taken the concept of the Artful Ways project, and used it to create this piece, which documents my feelings of being quarantined inside, here in Workington, and the time I’ve had to think and reflect upon what I’m missing on the outside.
Answering the three Artful questions
Creativity and culture mean a lot to me. I’m constantly creating and writing, even trying my hand at drawing and painting now and then, but I specifically use my creativity to write and make short videos that include my time with friends, my time outside, and at different events.
I have a real passion for these videos, and always look forward to getting footage to create more of them. I’m continuously inspired by culture, specifically Irish and Celtic culture, as it’s something I have a connection to, if only a distant one. The amount of nature that is entwined into Irish history and folklore is absolutely fascinating to me, and I have an amazing time researching it.
I can honestly say that Covid hit me pretty hard. Going from seeing friends every week to not being allowed to see them, not being able to go out for lunch with friends, the whole social part of quarantine really took its toll on me. However, many opportunities did arise. Being able to be at home more, cooking, baking, doing art, learning new crafts, it was something completely new, and in a way, exciting. However, as easy as it is for me to sit here and ramble about how the pandemic gave me new opportunities, the same can’t be said for everyone, and I feel a sort of guilt about it. Not so much a ‘survivor’s guilt’, but a guilt that I, a girl in a first world country, was sitting complaining about not being able to go for lunch whilst people were forced into austerity after losing their jobs makes my complaints rather shallow.
Since lockdown, things have only gotten worse for our planet. The constant littering of masks is disheartening to see, and it feels like no matter how many times you go to the beach and do litter picking, it isn’t going to get much better.
We can do our part, but when it comes down to it, the million pound companies that burn continuous fossil fuels are a big part of why our planet is dying. The amount of flooding recently in the middle of July is atrocious, and rather scary.
Our government has been told time and time again that action needs to be taken against climate change, but nothing seems to have been done. For now all we can do is our part. Recycling, cleaning up litter, and consuming less single-use waste.
You can find more of Olivia (Liv) Horton’s work on Instagram here: @botticellianpink