A librarian who asked volunteers to document the pandemic explained the historical value of keeping a diary right now. “Some of the best stories we get are from ordinary people who are experiencing something extraordinary,” she said.
I think we can all agree that this moment is extraordinary. Not in the traditional, ecstatic sense of the word. What is happening to us is truly disorienting, devastating and life-altering, for everyone. But each one of our coronavirus stories is unique. My homeschool looks different from your homeschool. Your work from home, unemployment or small business journey is charting a different course than mine. Your dreams, your thoughts, the state of your mental health is distinct to you. And a journal can help process it all. It doesn’t have to be for posterity or the archives of a historical society. You may even want to burn yours afterward! But right now it can help you make sense of your new normal.
By purchasing a Brooklyn Based journal, you will help this publication, too. There are far more worthy places to donate your money, but if you have the means to support us at a time when there is little reason to believe the CARES Act will provide the loans we qualify and applied for; when advertisers are not paying or cannot pay their invoices, and live events are off the table, purchasing one of these soft-bound notebooks will help us keep delivering stories to you.
No one else sells these journals. We commissioned Idlewild Co. to design an original cover featuring water towers, pigeons, brownstones, food halls, wine stores and book shops, the familiar sights of Brooklyn, in vivid color. These 6″x8″, 120 lined-page books are $30 including shipping to anywhere in the continental U.S. (which ranges between $5 to $8). Get yours now, or buy one for a friend. I can’t thank you enough!
