HOW TO SURVIVE A QUARANTINE – THE HERMIT PERSPECTIVE
This situation is no joy-ride. However, I feel I am pretty competent to manage 14 days of quarantine compared to the journey I went on 16 months ago, when I isolated myself in pretty primitive surroundings for 30 days, without any physical, social, internet or phone-based contact to anyone at all.
I do understand though, that isolation and changing your usual habits is not easy. So, here is my 3 advices that helped me a great deal to overcome my own hermit situation in the woods, and might be helpful for you.
MAKE ROUTINES – changing your daily habits completely is difficult. It is easy to slip into a drowsy state of waking up late and not accomplishing anything. Being distracted and side-tracked by scrutinizing the reason for your situation, is not productive. Routines make the days go faster and is rewarding as you can achieve much more with a scheduled plan for the days.
TAKE A WALK – a long walk is not only good for your physical health, but also helps clearing your mind and thoughts. Take a different route than you usually do, explore the area. Pay attentions to your surroundings and notice the small details that you normally wouldn’t pay attention to. A simple walk can be a small adventure.
DRAW A PICTURE – Being completely isolated can come with the risk of losing your grasp of reality. Focusing on one thing for a longer time can help you regain this sense of the physical presence of the world.
Find an object, study it in its every detail. Take your time and draw it like it it’s a documenting representation of its existence for future archives. Practice your skills, progressing and improving a skill is a very satisfying feeling and makes the time spend seem more rewarding.
Furthermore, I will remind you, that contrary to my hermit journey, you ARE allowed to call your friends, write a letter, do a skype party or talk to your roommate/partner. Take advantage of this time to dive into deep conversations. Ask about the other person and listen, every person have something to tell that you didn’t already know.
If you are curious to know more about my 30 days of isolation – which resulted in my solo exhibition “Hermit” – you can check out a video interview here. In 2015 I published the book “Wilderness Survival – A guide to the aesthetics of Survivalism”, which you can get a copy of at onomatopee.net.
Anna Bak (f. 1985) arbejder som billedkunstner og kurator. Hun er uddannet ved Det Fynske Kunstakademi og Montana State University i USA og har en MA i Curating ved Aarhus Universitet.
