Submitted by Charlotte Henderson from the U of C Lab Schools in Chicago.
Hi! I’m Charlotte:) The world feels surreal right now. I live in Chicago and a few days ago my mom and I took a drive downtown to go “window shopping”. It was sad to see how the city lost its usual movement and liveliness. Being unable to hug a friend or neighbor, go to a restaurant with your family, actually shop with your mom, and just go to school is really creating a big impact in all of our lives. It has however allowed for me to create time in my day to focus on activities I wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
My normal schedule consists of at least ten hours of non-stop work and activities everyday. I’m a big fan of art and all things creative so this quarantine really allowed for me to accentuate that side of myself. One thing I’ll do when I want to do something artistic is I’ll go on Pinterest and just browse around looking at what might spark some inspiration. My dad is really into Japanese art and I found some amazing sunsets on Pinterest so I decided to mesh the two ideas and paint a spin on a design I saw.
I attached the final painting, so you can check it out and hopefully find some inspiration to paint yourself:) One thing that’s amazing to me is that we are all living history right now, together. One day we can all look back on this and say to our kids that we experienced something that affected us all, but resulted in a more grateful world. We all now know what it’s like to have everything taken away from us.
When everything gets back the way it was and the world gets it’s movement back, I know I’ll take away not taking things for granted and I’ll really appreciate even the smallest details and littlest things in my life that I would normally overlook.
Charlotte :)