28 Sep My adventure with The World From My Window
When most of the world was entering into lockdowns at the beginning of April 2020, when unspeakable and unprecedented things started to happen, my friend, Elisabeth, asked if I wanted to help. She has told me about her friend who needed illustrations for this online non-profit project. The project asked people to share stories about what they saw and how they felt during that trying time, stories from the lockdown… I loved the concept and the idea.
I was then in a place where I either constantly checked the latest news and scientific updates or worried about my family getting sick. I was wondering how what was happening would impact the world. I felt like it was a great idea to turn all that unfocused energy into action and to contribute, and maybe I could help somehow. This is how I met Dan Boyden and Dan Shipton – the project’s founders, and how my adventure with The World from my Window.
It was Easter week exactly when I worked on the illustrations and initial branding for the project to go live on the anniversary of the day that Yuri Gagarin traveled around the Earth. The concept was connected to the idea of what Yuri saw from his window and what we could see on that day from our windows. It was beautiful, and I was drawn to the project. With the support of my husband, I worked incessantly and speedily during that 3-4 days.
This is a truly global project that connects people and gathers stories from all over the world. We have actually never met as both Dans live in London, and I live in Tokyo. All the communication is happening in the land of Zoomland and e-mail.
“The world from my window” is a global anthology of stories of isolation from all over the world. It started during the COVID- 19 in 2020, gathering the stories from the lockdown.
It continued with the next chapter called “DAWN,” with the stories of how the year 2020 affected our world, and it continues until today.
The main idea behind the project is that storytelling has a healing power that helps to process what is happening to us and can support our emotional wellbeing. The project champions mental health awareness and is a tender and welcoming place for all kinds of stories.
Here is about the project from the website
Our world is facing a new dawn. Global citizens in every country face unprecedented levels of uncertainty. Nothing can be predicted right now, and this has impacted our individual and collective wellbeing. With so much instability, the need to take care of ourselves and others is more urgent than ever. We need outlets for our emotions, thoughts, and feelings – this is where The World From My Window comes in.
The World From My Window is a home for storytellers. We share the words of others in our ever-growing global anthology of stories from across the world. You don’t need to be an accomplished writer, poet, or pop star, all you need to do is write down whatever it is you’re thinking and what your world looks like right now, and we’ll do the rest.
We are open to all forms of submission – short stories, monologues, poems…
Your story must be under 300 words, written by you, and not taken from any other sources. What does chapter 2 read like? How does the world from your Window look as we enter this new normal? What have you discovered about yourself and the people around you? What positivity has come out of this momentary pause? How do we now build the best possible future?
Our campaign started at one of the most unique and pivotal points in our shared history; the global lockdown of 2020. We created The World From My Window to provide a democratic, open and accessible outlet for anyone, anywhere, to share their story. We want to continue to provide a platform for the voices of individual citizens around the globe and offer an outlet for creative writing, promoting its benefits wherever we can.
The links:
Here You can read all the stories:
https://www.theworldfrommywindow.com/
Latest updates:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/the.world.from.my.window/
https://www.facebook.com/ahomeforstorytellers