Friendship during the pandemic

Friendship during the pandemic

 ​​Today my dear friend brought her son and stayed for a while.
She's a really cool friend I met during the pandemic last year. Conversely, She is a great gift that the pandemic has given to me. I remember when I was unable to talk in person because we were quarantined at home. When I lived in pre-corona, I had never imagined that I would live when it would be difficult to meet people. I was always surrounded by people, and I always had people around me to meet. Rather, I had to try to make time to be alone privately, avoiding the hustle and bustle of conversations with people. At first glance, I may look like a so-called popular woman, but what I'm trying to intend is that there's always someone to talk to around us, and that's common. But after the entire city was locked down and I couldn't leave my house for long periods, I realized that meeting in person wasn't the norm. 2020 was a year that made me think about whether the world ended like this year or whether the end of the world really has come.  

Last year, I was grateful to even the Amazon employees who delivered goods. Because it was like a rescue team that came to deliver relief to an isolated island and home.

  Actually I wanted to express my little gratitude, so I bought a thank you banner and put it up in front of my house. It was something I hadn't done before. This Covid crisis seems to make people miss conversations like me and do things they don't normally do. 

 In the strange last year when normal became abnormal and abnormal became normal, I met some really nice people. ​A friend of mine is a beautiful woman full of artistic talent and has a wonderful heart to present such a pretty picture. 

  She is currently making fairy tale books for children with such a clear mind, and just watching this process gives me a lot of energy. When I visit her house, she shows it to me, but in fact, I'm so sorry that it's only me. I hope it will be completed soon and many people will see it.  

​ Another great friend is the author of the book below. She is an influential person who gave me a wonderful experience of meeting and talking with the author directly who wrote and published the book. I bought her book on Amazon and read it in front of the fireplace for last winter and it helped me get away from the worries of the Covid-19 for a while.

  Today and as always, she writes and speaks well . She is an woman who give us great energy and so after meeting her, the pleasant lingering impression remains for a long time. The book, The Trip, is the exciting itinerary of a single woman traveling to New Zealand as she ventures out of her tedious routine. I was amazed at the detail and emotional lines in people's conversations in the book. It's not easy to find such a book that catches the emotional lines in a conversation so fun. However, reading this book will make you laugh out loud. It's really interesting and fun.  If I go into too much detail, I will end up with spoilers. 

I felt the preciousness and nostalgia of dialogue in her book. Ah yes, we can meet people so freely without any restrictions and have a conversation like a cake that blends fantastically with bitter coffee. We get to know each other like that, looking into each other's eyes, trying to figure out the intent of the conversation, and feeling the emotions in the conversation.  Conversation is such a wonderful journey, and there is a joy in it, even though it can sometimes destroy each other with hurtful words but it makes us  pleasant, useful, and enriching our lives.

​During the pandemic, the time when conversations disappeared, some were freed from their wounds, some missed to see each other in their warm eyes, and some became farther away because they could not understand their intentions. But now we've been cautiously reconnecting, and returning to our daily life.  Perhaps we don't even have time to reminisce about those times. ​​Conversation has become common again, just as we briefly went shopping after being freed from masks due to vaccines.

Shopping, 2019, Myungja Anna Koh

  The above work is a drawing I drew at once before Corona 2019 with a colored pencil titled Shopping. At the time of drawing this picture, I found something beauty in everyday life around me and drew it.  

 When you go shopping and buy a lot of things, no matter how many you buy, it doesn't feel heavy at all. Because in my head I picture myself trying to use the things I already bought. Come to think of it, my conversation pattern will be like this for the time being. As conversations become more precious, I don't think hurtful conversations and meaningless conversations will not feel heavy.

I am grateful for a day like today, when I was able to get back to my daily life and meet and talk with people in person.  Although this joy is temporary, there are worries around because of the delta mutation but I hope that everyone will be able to overcome this and manage it.