︎ Sishir Bommakanti
Illustrator and animator
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
translated by Peng Wu
Coping Mechanism
Before the pandemic reached The States, I was already in a situation where I was stuck at my parents, saving up to move out. I just got a job and seven months in, I was working, getting paid reasonably and was very close to finally moving out. I was looking forward to taking the opportunity to live on my own again. Explore local venues for music, spend time with close friends, and discover the amazing things my city offers. All of that was placed on halt as soon as I lost my job during the pandemic. In a way I was prepared for this.
As an introvert, I would think that being stuck at home for an indefinite amount of time is the greatest opportunity ever, but that inward habit of mine needs to be balanced with some dose of social connection that isn't Social Media. The stress of the world, and what is happening is too much to process, and this led me into an unusual cycle of work. My coping mechanism to stress and worry is to just work, cook and spend more time with my cat. Since Covid-19, i’ve been grateful that I procrastinated on my move away from my parents home. I think my health would have been severely affected if I lived alone. At least here, i’ve been learning how to improve my cooking skills thanks to my mom, studying new software in hopes that I can rebrand my portfolio and learn some really interesting things to expand my voice as an artist and have some people to physically talk to, which is the most important. I also take every opportunity to annoy my cat as much as possible. This includes wrapping him up in a blanket two time a day, taking him to explore the backyard and dressing him up in various costumes.
This cycle of “work” may yield some interesting results, perhaps art to share, or learning new things, but the biggest drawback is massive burnout. A lot of that comes from trying to ignore the stress, rather than find an outlet to fix it. This lockdown made me realize that I need to find healthy solutions to dealing with stress, because this cycle of overworking myself will cause problems further down the road. Recently I've bought a Synthesizer to learn and play music. I'm terrible at it, but at least it's a small way for me to get through the day. Something about making ambient sounds makes me feel good, and I hope that eventually that will let me produce music for my films and animation in the future.
I’m learning what balance means, and I currently have plenty of time to meditate on that. I look forward to cooking for friends again.
︎ 史叙•博马坎提
插画师 动画人
明尼阿波利斯，明尼苏达 美国
应对机制
当疫情在美国蔓延开之前，我就感觉自己是困在父母家，努力存钱计划搬出来自己住。 当时我有一份工作已经做了七个月，工资还不错，感觉离能够搬出来已经很接近了。我对搬出来自己住非常期待。这意味着我可以更自由的和朋友在一起，探索本地的一些音乐演出现场和其他城市生活的乐趣。然而当我因为疫情影响而失业之后，这一切计划都被迫暂停了。从某种意义上，我仿佛对此早有准备。
作为一个内向的人，我有时候觉得被无限长时间困在家里简直是个千载难逢的机会。但我知道自己内心的平衡需要维系一定程度上与外界的社交联系 - 当不是社交媒体所提供的那种联系。整个世界发生着的事情对我来说形成一种难以消解的压力。这些压力逐渐让我进入一种不正常的工作状态。因为通常我对压力和担忧的应对策略就是不停的工作，做饭，花更多时间跟我的猫咪一起玩。新冠疫情发生以后，幸好我拖延了从父母家搬出去自己住的计划。不然的话，疫情中的独居状态一定会让我健康出状况。而现在跟父母一起，至少我跟我母亲学了不少厨艺。同时我还学了不少创作用的软件。我打算用这段时间重整一下我的作品集，拓展我的艺术创作范围，最重要的是希望有机会能找人面对面聊聊天。现在我不放过每一个机会来捉弄我的猫咪：我每天两次把猫咪用毯子裹起来；带他去后院散步；给他穿上各种各样的宠物衣服。
这种“工作“状态的循环也许会产生一些有趣的成果，产生一些值得分享的艺术，或者学会一些新东西。而糟糕的是我从这种循环中感到一种彻底的精疲力尽。我猜这是因为这种循环状态中我一直尝试逃避那些压力，而不是寻找一个释放压力的出口。封城以来，我开始反省，我需要找到一种更健康的办法来应对这些压力，因为目前这种过劳的循环状态可能会对健康造成长期的后遗症。最近我买了一个音乐效果器来学着玩。虽然我不擅长乐器，但感觉这是个小进步帮我过完一天。在创作氛围音乐的状态下我感觉找到些乐趣。我希望未来可以给我自己做的动画的短片做配乐。
我一直在思索生活中平衡的意义，而现在我有大把大把的时间来思索。而未来，我期待再次给我的朋友们露一手我的厨艺。