Technology while home....

Well, where are we? In this moment in time? We are “in quarantine”. The spread of COVID-19 has put us in our homes and away from each other physically but so close to one another digitally. We are learning how to make this work for the time being, because that’s all that we can do at this point. At the same time, there are some really amazing trending-traditions popping up all over the internet.

Questlove, musical director and drummer from The Roots, who was already an acclaimed DJ in his own right BEFORE we were all encouraged to stay home, has been having nightly spinning sessions on his youtube channel, instagram story, and band facebook page (simultaneously) every night since the quarantine started, most nights for around 4 hours at a time. Being a musician myself in Nashville, TN, several of my musician friends who depend on performing live regularly already and often play for tips, have been holding live streaming sets on facebook with their Venmo and Paypal tags on display to encourage tips. Families have been staying connected through video calls on the internet in order to stay connected while keeping their distance. Artists are finding ways to stay creative and get their output out on the internet. Teachers and even entire schools are making learning and teaching content available online so students can continue to learn while they are at home.

And even though some of us still have jobs where we leave the house in order to continue to make a living, many of us are learning how to work from home. Not just “work” in the sense where someone provides a service and is, in turn, paid for that service. But also to “make it work” while living at home. It’s definitely a different kind of vibe. But we are all doing what we can, at least I hope we are. The same technology that I was probably “bad-mouthing” in a previous blog post is how we are all staying connected now. Video calls with friends or family, playing online games with each other, posting creativity through different platforms, these are just some of the ways that we are staying connected. And that is what we have, so what can I say?