Health and Wellness

Another subject area that showed up in abundance across postcard submissions were reflections on physical and mental wellbeing. Submissions expressed the need to be more physically active outdoors as indoor gatherings and activities ceased, while also showing the mental toll which isolation and stress had on many people.

A slowed-down world opened up new opportunities for rest and contemplation, as expressed in this child-created postcard. A round, Buddha figure sits on the grass near the water, eyes closed, smile on face, in what reads as a relaxed, meditative state. Written above the image is the text “Buddha doing meditation to calm anxiety during the pandemic.”

Others took the opportunity to be more physically active and explore the outdoors as seen in this piece  of a figure, wearing a mask, standing next to a bicycle. Written on the postcard are lyrics to a Queen song, “I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like it.” The drawing shows the figure with their bike traversing the local Ann Arbor to Dexter border to border trail. 

While some submissions showed the positive turns people were taking to take care of themselves during the pandemic, others expressed the anxiety and pain they felt during these times.

Illustrating the wide-range of emotions experienced in the pandemic, this postcard is a color drawing showing a rollercoaster riding up and down hills with the signs "confused," "sad," "mad," and "happy." The creator has handwritten across the top, "a rollercoaster of emotions."

In another piece, a watercolor painting depicts a young girl covering her ears. Above her head float three multi-colored faces showing expressions of contemplation, sadness, one even looks a little menacing. Amongst the three heads are two clocks with infinity signs in the place of traditional numbers for telling time. Perhaps this is representative of the slow, yet continual moving of time as everything in the world seemed to come to a standstill. There also appears to be a packet of pills amidst the swirl of images surrounding the girl’s head. This could be related to sickness and treatment or mental health–interpretation is left open to the viewer.