The Art of Staying Home, with Kassia St Clair
Firstly how are you feeling today?
Pretty good! And definitely a heap better than I was feeling on Sunday evening when I had an attack of the corona-blues. Today though, the sun is shining, work is going well and I've got a lunch of beans (formerly dried, now in a broth and rather delicious if I say so myself) and sausages planned. A good day.
Tell us about your art and your studio.
I'm a writer, so my work is creative but not art. I've written two books — The Secret Lives of Colour and The Golden Thread — and I'm working on my third now. I also write about design and culture for magazines and newspapers including The Economist, Elle Decoration and Wired.
What I try to do with everything I write is pack it full of the kinds of intriguing and unexpected facts you can't wait to share with people, while keeping the writing light enough for people to enjoy reading it even at the end of a long day. I also love taking subjects that people don't always think of as being really important or interesting and persuading them otherwise. Making them see a topic in a different way.
Do you normally work from home?
Before the virus hit, I worked most days from a shed at the bottom of the garden and then treasured Tuesdays and Thursdays, which were my days to get out of the house and work either from a cafe or more usually from the London Library. (Calling myself a writer is a bit misleading really, since the vast majority of my time is spent researching rather than writing, hence the library.) Now I'm all shed all the time.
How has your day to day life changed since COVID-19?
Well, it's come on softly softly for me. I got very sick for about two weeks in mid February with a flu that I thought at the time might be coronavirus. I called the NHS helpline but they didn't think I needed to be tested, so I still don't know if I've been exposed or not. A significant part of what I do usually is give talks and obviously that's all been put on hold or cancelled. Also a lot of my freelance work is either difficult or not possible, so I'm focussing on research for my book.
What are you doing creatively to stay calm and mindful?
I've created a routine for myself that I'm trying to stick to as much as possible. It includes slots for work, but also exercise that I can do at home, time for housework and meals and so on. Sticking to it is keeping me calm and creative, and preventing me from spending hours on social media or checking the news. In fact, avoiding the news is pretty fundamental to keeping myself calm!
Do you have any creative ideas for people to do at home?
My biggest tip would be to create a schedule for yourself, even if, like me, you're pretty used to working from home. There's something about living within the confines of a tight structure, and making sure it includes time for creativity as well as chores, which feels particularly useful when you're living within the same four walls.
What do you think the world will have learned from this?
I have a few hopes for what the world might learn from this. Most fundamentally how much cleaner and less polluted everthing is when we're not all moving about and consuming so much all the time. I'm also hoping it will make governments re-think who and what is really fundamental to a healthy, happy and functioning society. I hope people will learn to slow down and appreciate what they have; learn that they can live and be happy with surprisingly little. I also hope this makes everyone feel differently about their neighbours, appreciate the people who live on the same street or in the same building or village.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Stay safe; look after yourself; wash your hands. (Oh: and think about buying a copy of my books from your local bookstore!)
