Finding solace and stimulation as we retreat from the physical world

My heart bleeds for a man of my acquaintance not blessed with an internet connection, whose TV broke and who spent months of the first lockdown sitting in a room with his wife, staring at each other in silence.

He does, at least, have a wife.

For those of us who do not, the weeks and months of isolation must be filled with creativity and media consumption. If you are privileged enough to access the magical internet, you have an entrepot into some of the world’s most stimulating and entertaining creative output. These times have made it even more valuable.

For me, it has been a time to embrace to pleasures of the series binge, something I had only dabbled in previously. In almost every field of artistic expression, I believe in the classics. They are classic for a reason, so I like to start there, and move into the riskier, more contemporary stuff once we have laid the foundation.

This approach led me into the profane joys of Breaking Bad, about a cash-strapped chemist who launches a career as a methamphetamine manufacturer and essentially torpedoes his entire existence from there. It’s five seasons of quality that can stand alongside our culture’s finest literature and cinematography.

From there, I segued into spin-off series Better Call Saul – a 7 to Breaking Bad’s 10, but certainly still worth firing up the old Netflix app. Then I was blessed to discover Schitt’s Creek, an unfortunately named, but brilliant revision of the series formula to embrace the LGBTQ principles of the modern era in a superbly entertaining package.

The German horror sci-fi journey Dark had me in white-fingered terror on my couch, but committed throughout to its apocalyptic dystopia that felt somehow current in the depths of the quarantine.

Thence, it was time for reading and writing. I managed to complete polishing some output of my own, in regular consultation with Mr Shakespeare, whence all our literary rivers flow. I’m not sure if that makes him the source, or the ocean of our language, but the humanity of his writing is an eternal inspiration.

It’s almost impossible to find a true moment of quietude in which to read some Shakespeare. Lockdown provided those moments. It also allowed me the time and space to watch movies that would otherwise be unwatchably long.

the Irishman, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, the Small Axe anthology of Steve McQueen… Within the horror of the pandemic, we were often gifted the luxury of time.

Each of us has chosen to spend that allocation differently. Of course, all of this time comes with an undertone of anxiety and visceral fear. And a very real threat to lives and loved ones.

Often, our best survival strategy has been to withdraw ourselves from the risks of interpersonal contact, to turn inwards, to escape, but also to fortify ourselves with the wisdom and joy of our world’s great creators.

There has been music, gaming, new social-media platforms to explore, comfort-zones to abandon, as we expose ourselves to new realms, ideas and forms of expression.

Whether these times have led to a flowering of creative output remains to be seen. Perhaps the real surge of artistic expression will come afterwards, once the fog of fear and pain has lifted. Stress is, after all, the enemy of creativity.

But for us, the consumers of art, media and entertainment, this is a time of feasting and plenty. We need to explore, to experiment, to sample the work of our world’s great artistic minds.

And somehow, during a time of such mortal threat, art seems more intense, less ephemeral. Even the pop-culture realm assumes a more meaningful aspect. Even Glee, with its high-school drama and cover versions of pop-music classics, can become a life raft in the stormy mental seas of these uncertain times.

Wherever you are able to retreat into other worlds from the stark reality of this one, I wish you solace and stimulation. May the produce of all our rich cultures sustain us through this time; let it nurture our minds and our emotions, that our fragile planetary vehicles might survive to carry us further on this fascinating journey of life.

Let our art protect us.

Hagen Engler. Picture: Supplied

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