Cultivating community lies at the heart of our mission at The Nashville Food Project, but at this time of social distancing, we’re learning how community means much more than physical proximity.
We’re seeing inspiration for community everywhere — from living room concerts and “cloud clubbing” (for the ravers among us) to movie discussion groups and online home cooking forums. In David Byrne’s magazine “Reason to be Cheerful,” Nick Green, creator of the Social Distancing Festival, says this:.
“As long as we are sharing a space in which we can be present, provoke, inspire, promote kindness and compassion, and share ideas, then we are all together in one space, even if it’s in different places at different times.”
Along those lines, we recently found encouragement from On Being’s Care Package for Uncertain Times, a collection of interviews and poetry on topics ranging from grief to hope. It inspired us to make our own version for our friends and for each other. We collected our inspirations, recommendations, motivations—all salve for the loneliness and fears this virus and social distancing can produce. These recommendations aren’t necessarily heavy or directly related to the pandemic or our work. Rather it's a collection intended to nourish and accompany our community as we all stay home together.
This is Part 2 in a series. Find Part 1 HERE.
Lauren Bailey, Director of Garden Programs
Books: We've been reading Sweetest Kulu by Cellina Kalluk to our daughter Trudy before bed. I recommend checking it out, even if you don't have kids because it is a beautiful book with grounding poetry that speaks of our connectedness to other living beings in the world.
Podcast: Snap Judgement with Glen Washington
Article: I found this writing to be thought-provoking -- Social Justice in the Time of Social Distancing.
Music: Sharon Van Etten / Alzheimer’s Association Music Moments Project
Other inspirations or ways of coping through COVID-19:
This was a direct quote from a recent email I received from the organization Race Forward, "In the words of racial justice advocate and philosopher Grace Lee Boggs, 'the only way to survive is by taking care of one another.'"
Johnisha Levi, Development Manager
Book: Call me American: A Memoir by Abdi Nor Iftin. Achingly beautiful writing that somehow manages to capture the painful experiences of a Somali immigrant without losing a sense of wonder, humor, and hope.
Movie: The Last Black Man in San Francisco. A look at gentrification and the creativity it sometimes takes to reclaim your heritage and keep a firm hold on legacy.
TV: Unorthodox. I keep thinking about the haunting performances, and the way that the central character perseveres and finds a new and accepting community that supports her in literally discovering her own (singing) voice. It is triumphant!
Music: If anyone needs a beautiful soundtrack to listen to If Beale Street Could Talk (particularly the piece called Agape) makes you feel like something can go right again in the world.
Also, Roberta Flack, First Take, the whole.dang.thing!
Jeff Buckley, Live in Chicago, because he's got what someone said of Donny Hathaway, "a stained glass voice."
Sufjan Stevens, because he is built for troubled times.
David Frease, Procurement & Sustainability Manager
Music: Polaroid Piano by Akira Kosemura // When I was younger, I couldn't stand instrumental or ambient music of any kind. It always seemed so boring, and I didn't understand why an artist wouldn't want to more fully express their vision through the addition of vocals and lyrics. Now that more time has passed, I completely get the appeal and tend to gravitate towards it more and more each passing year.
With the endless amounts of distractions we're all bombarded with on a daily basis, there's something very meditative about instrumentals. You can let them hang out in the background of whatever you're doing or you can choose to engage more fully, discovering new layers and details with each listen.
The genre doesn't jump up and demand your attention like most other types of music but personally, I've often found it to be even more rewarding in many ways. The older I get, the more I find that the really important mysteries in life can't be expressed in words. One gets much closer with a perfectly timed photograph, an abstract painting or the right musician making magic with their instrument.
My favorite find of the past few months is the album "Polaroid Piano" by a Japanese artist named Akira Kosemura. Mainly known for his soundtrack work, most of his pieces are pristine recordings of solo piano pieces with the occasional orchestral flourish but the reason I love this album so much is because it's the opposite of that. It's completely unpolished and raw in the best way. You can hear every press of the piano pedals, his bench creaking, the sounds of the keys brushing against each other as he plays. Certain tracks are accompanied by birds outside his window chirping or children playing down the street. It's so sparse and intimate that it almost comes off as someone recording their neighbor practicing in the apartment next door without their knowing. It's not until you've listened to it a dozen times that you even notice the guitar gently being strummed in certain tracks, or the toy xylophone sneaking in from time to time. As one review of the album said, "It feels impossible to get tired of, circumscribed and boundless at once." On my off days, I'll often throw it on repeat, allowing it to become the soundtrack to my day. The pieces melt into each other in such a way...if it played forever, that would be ok with me.
Movie: Jojo Rabbit // My wife and I finally watched Jojo Rabbit, and it was just as moving as everyone said it would be. Taika Waititi somehow found a way to make the most tragic and disturbing event in history heart-warming, funny and cathartic. He touched the third rail and lived to tell about it.
Book: Autumn Light by Pico Iyer // I've been reading a lot of Pico Iyer lately for the same reasons I've been listening to more instrumental/ambient music. There's something very grounding about his work and travel writing in general is great for transporting me to another, less chaotic place.
Podcast: Behind the Bastards // I listen to a lot of podcasts in the truck but this is probably the one I look forward to the most. The host, Robert Evans, is incredibly well-researched, knowledgeable and hilarious. It always leaves me laughing and shaking my head in disbelief at the worst humans to ever live.
TV: Every season of Travel Man on Hulu // It's the hilarious and sarcastic travel show I never knew I needed. The perfect antidote to talking about coronavirus all day.