Like Ships in a Stormy sea under a COVID Sun
A text (or a poem) called "We are NOT in the same boat" (written by an unknown author) has been circulating on social media for the past 4-5 days and inspired me to create the illustration above.
The text somehow touched me and triggered some feelings and emotions in me, which activated my imagination and aroused my creativity.
The author of the text is referring to the famous idiom, "We are all in the same boat", that we usually all use when feeling trapped in an inescapable situation, and that a lot of people have been applying to the COVID-19 pandemic situation we are all in.
Yet, the author offers a counterargument directly in the title, "We are NOT in the same boat", and further develops it with a different perspective of the situation in the text.
To illustrate the text, I wanted to create an illustration that could convey, at first glance, the gravity and severity of the situation, by displaying with a certain force, the darkness, sadness and direness of the current pandemic situation, as well as metaphorically represent the people's torment, state-of-mind, fear, doubts, emotions and feelings, aggravated by the desolation of the unknown and uncertainty they are facing.
An image of ghostly ships and small boats full of helpless people trapped into a stormy, tormented and unsettled sea, under a blanket of heavy dark clouds, with the coronavirus as the sun, immediately came to my mind, reflecting quite well my vision of this pandemic situation and how it has affected most people over the last four months.
To create the background of the illustration, I found this beautiful drawing called "Stormy Sea" by Alex Van der Line on Deviant Art (*), where the force of the sea and the waves, the dark sombre clouds, and the overall atmosphere of the storm perfectly described what I had originally envisioned in thoughts.
As I did it for other illustrations I've created for previous posts on both of my blogs, I used an image of the coronavirus to replace (or mask) the sun, and give it this purple-blue-ish hue to give a strange and eery light effect to dramatize the scene a little more and emphasize the surreal aspect of the situation. Like a horrific depiction of how desperate the situation really is.
Then, I added the partially wrecked ships and boats (**), here and there, on the tumultuous waves of the rough sea, to express the unsettled and unsettling impression and feeling of the whole situation; and give them this faded ghostly appearance reminiscent of how people are getting infected and slowly vanishing to disappear into the dark horizon.
The tumultuous waves also representing the physical and psychological ups and downs most people have been experiencing over these last 4 months while trying to live through and survive this whole situation that has tested both the best and the worst in each one of us.
I simply titled this illustration "Ships in a stormy sea under a COVID sun".
The more I look at it, the more I find it quite captivating, and even mesmerizing, capturing both powerful emotions and feelings at the same time, in a very dark and saddening way.
Yet, even as eery, strange and unnatural it is, the ray of light emitted by the coronavirus sun, in the middle of the dark clouds, somehow lightens the darkness like some kind of a silver lining, almost like a ray of hope, reassuring the people on the lost ships and boats, knowing that one day the storm will gradually pass and disappear, the roughness of the sea will quiet down and the sun will shine again.
Domelgabor
Here is the text (or poem, if you prefer):
WE ARE NOT IN THE SAME BOAT ... I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it's not like that.
We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.
Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be.
Or vice versa. For some, quarantine is optimal.
A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cocktail or coffee.
For others, this is a desperate financial & family crisis. For some that live alone, they're facing endless loneliness.
While for others it is peace, rest & time with their mother, father, sons & daughters. With the $600 weekly increase in unemployment, some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales. Some families of 4 just received $3400 from the stimulus while other families of 4 saw $0. Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter, while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk and eggs for the weekend. Some want to go back to work because they don't qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others want to kill those who break the quarantine. Some are home spending 2-3 hours/day helping their child with online schooling, while others are spending 2-3 hours/day to educate their children on top of a 10-12 hour workday. Some have experienced the near-death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others don't believe this is a big deal. Some have faith in God and expect miracles during 2020.
Others say the worst is yet to come.
So, friends, we are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.
Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.
We are all on different ships during this storm experiencing a very different journey.
Unknown author
And to this text I will add:
Be kind to one another and honor each situation and individual experience.
Do not judge too harshly the actions and reactions of others as their experience of this whole situation might be completely different than yours.
No matter what is the color of your skin, wherever you came from, whatever is your gender, ethnicity, religion or belief, this COVID-19 virus cannot tell the difference and doesn't know any boundaries.
Understandably, we are all in the same storm, yet on different ships, and consequently, each of us is experiencing and living through this pandemic very differently from one another...
In the meantime, be and stay safe, be strong, be patient, be nice, as well as considerate and helpful with others. And take good care of yourself and your loved ones. We will only prevail if we stay united and at peace with each other. The storm will pass...
Love, hugs and thoughts to my family and friends in HK, France, the UK and the US (and the rest of the world too).
Domelgabor
Sources:
(*) "Stormy Sea" Original drawing courtesy of and drawn by Alex Van Der Line on DeviantArt (https://www.deviantart.com/alexvanderlinde/art/Stormy-Sea-238814509)
(**) The ships and boats were inspired by a painting, "Sailing Ships in Stormy Seas; Fishing Boats at Sunset" by Henriette Gudin (French, 1825–d. ca. 1876)
©Domelgabor 2020