A mission to Mars -- or to the Earth of the future

[petra]

Living Life at a Distance is an article from Slate by a journalist who signed up for a four-month isolation "mission to Mars" with NASA, and the ways that the current global moment is and is not like that experience.

Hat-tip to minoanmiss for the article.

Which parts of the article feel valuable to you?

Comments

[petra]

I like the framing of the present moment as one of waiting for the next thing to happen. We only have one way to get to the future of the planet, through what we do here and now, and it feels like a thoroughly straitened path lately. If I try to see the current circumstance as living in a kind of time capsule to be opened at a later date, it's easier to let go of the things I can't do -- even though we don't know when the time capsule will be opened.

[illariy]

What a fascinating article.

I loved the details on how they created the Mars-life on Earth, the idea to keep my hands busy - I have been meaning to learn to hand-sew my own clothes but I am hampered by the inability to go shopping now (German in half-quarantine here) and I am not sure I want to order online just now because it does endanger the people doing the shipping and delivery - but most of all, the approach of embracing boredom rather than fighting it. Hm. That might be very valuable, once "normal" life has returned, too.

[petra]

Being able to embrace boredom seems like a next-level skill to me, several steps beyond "keep your hands busy" as a basic practice. I'm still working on sitting with boredom and not getting anxious, and I expect I will be for a while. Good luck with it!

[illariy]

Sorry for the late reply, was away from computer due to health issues.

Thank you for the good wishes! Same good wishes to you, too! I have been bored seldom, moreso suffered from lack of energy. Now I am trying to get outside more (we are allowed to here in Germany but only with our households or in groups of no more than 2 people with a distance of 1.5 m) and it is getting better. However, I am getting restless and I think I need to take up the practice of keeping my hands busy as well! Or at least occupy my brain with some language learning or such. ;-)

[petra]

I hope your ability to get outside, however socially distanced, helps your restlessness. What kinds of things are you thinking of to keep your hands busy? I've been knitting more than I had been, and playing a lot of mindless computer games. Language learning is good for part of the day -- I can confidently say that Duolingo has taught me how to be incredibly awkward in German! -- but it takes too much concentration for me to do it for long stretches.

[illariy]

Primarily, I am thinking of my main hobby, which is writing letters to penpals. I have had neither the energy nor the concentration span to finish one in weeks and have a huge reply pile now. I forgot to pack my stamps when I went into the hospital two weeks ago so even if I had finished a letter, I could not have sent it. My flatmate has agreed to bring me some stuff, including stamps, tomorrow. I sure hope it works out! I can't wait to write letters again, I miss it so much.

Besides that, I hope to draw or maybe paint with watercolours and gouache a little, handsew some reusable makeup remover pads and, more longterm, my own clothing (am thinking of shorts and skirts from my own patterns or clothes I own and like), language learning, and of course once I return to my room, I have a looooot of spring cleaning and decluttering to do! Due to lack of energy, I will need to tackle it one small area at a time but it will keep me quite busy for a long time.

Also, I have a massive pile of physical books to read. Although that is perhaps more to keep the mind busy than the hands :D

Very cool that you are learning German via Duolingo! If you ever have questions or want to practice a little, I am here - I am no teacher but I am a native speaker of German. ;-)

[petra]

Writing letters to penpals is a wonderful hobby. I'm sorry things have been beating you up so hard you haven't been able to catch up with it. It must have been very draining dealing with being in the hospital.

Decluttering little piece by little piece is a lot of what I've been up to lately, too.

Danke für mir Hilfe mit mein Deutsch anbieten. Ich habe weniger Worte als ich brauche, und mein Gramatik ist sehr schlecht als ist witzig. Duolingo habe mir mit meine Praxis gehelfen, aber ich brauche nicht Satzen wie "Die Hexen hätten den Planeten in ein Paradies verwandelt." und mehr Praxis mit täglich Sprache.

Ich kann zu antworten ihre Kommentare da in Deutsch versuchen, aber ich kenne nicht wenn meine Sprache reichen. Wenn Sie wurde ihre Englisch betreiben bevorzugen, dass ist mit mir ganz gut.

Und wenn diese Kommentare ist genug gut, dass Sie konnte mir verstanden ein bisschen, das ist mehr Glück als Geschick.