DYING, ILLNESS, AND AGING WITH GRACE

What better time to keep a diary or journal than these strange times trying to duck a weird and dangerous coronavirus. Write about how life sheltering in place (and losing money fast) is with you. These historic times will be best recalled not by famous decisions or the tweet history of our demented president but by accounts of our daily lives trying to survive this sneaky killer.
• Why We Should All Be Keeping Coronavirus Journals (Katherine Sharp Landdeck, Time, 4-27-2020)
• What We Can Learn From 1918 Influenza Diaries (Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 4-13-2020) Though much has changed since 1918, the sentiments shared in writings from this earlier pandemic are likely to resonate with modern readers. These letters and journals offer insights on how to record one's thoughts amid a pandemic.
• What Historians Will See When They Look Back on the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 (The New York Times) Universities and institutions are inviting the public to share their experiences during the coronavirus 2020 pandemic and its aftermath.
• The race to save the first draft of coronavirus history from internet oblivion (Abby Ohlheiser and Tanya Basu, MIT Technology Review, 4-21-2020) How researchers, archivists, and citizens are racing to preserve a record of how we lived and changed during this strange period of history.
• 12 Ideas for Writing Through the Pandemic with The New York Times (New York Times)
• Students' Journals Could Be 'Primary Sources' (Lauren S. Brown, MiddleWeb, 4-10-2020)
• Share Your Story: Remembering COVID-19 Front-Line Workers (Meghan Collins Sullivan, The Coronavirus Crisis, NPR, 4-29-2020)
• New York State Library Covid-19 Personal History Initiative The state is asking New York residents to share journal entries about living during the COVID pandemic.
• Why You Should Start a Coronavirus Diary (Jen A. Miller, NY Times, 4-13-2020) It’ll help you organize your thoughts during these difficult times, and may help educate future generations.
• How Can I Keep a Personal, Private Journal Online? (Alan Henry, LifeHacker, 1-14-13) How can I set up my journal so I can edit and update it online on my phone or laptop without the world seeing it? I want a diary, not a blog!
• Guide to keeping an audio journal (Journaling Habit) Evernote and Onenote both have audio recording features that can be used on desktop or mobile.
• The Art of Audio Journaling: How to Think and Write Out Loud on Your Way to Work
• A Coronavirus Chronicle: April 15, 2020 (Local correspondents, New Yorker, 4-27-2020) Twenty-four hours at the epicenter of the pandemic.
• The ER diaries: a coronavirus case that nearly broke me A California nurse’s journals from the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. A patient’s anguish is enough to crack even a medical worker’s professional resolve.  A nurse's coronavirus journal: 'The new normal of this pandemic sinks in' (The Guardian, 3-24-2020) "For the first time in the decade I’ve been working as a healthcare worker, the warning to stay home has been heard and obeyed by the masses."
• My Students Are Finally Keeping a Journal (Jeanne Bonner, Brevity, 4-27-2020) "Yet on a whim, I wondered if using the forum tool to create a weekly diary might make sense so I inserted one during the first week of our confinement that was simply called 'Coronavirus Journal.' I told them they should not see it as a mandatory assignment but rather as a refuge.... Judging by the voluminous entries some have posted, they are galvanized in this hot-house atmosphere of illness and fear. Forced suddenly to live in new ways – or in some cases, return to living in old ways, specifically with their parents! – they've received a jolt of inspiration paired with a desperate need to vent their frustrations."
• The Quarantine Diaries (New York Times) Around the world, the history of our present moment is taking shape in journal entries and drawings.
• Quarantine diary from author Rick Bragg in Alabama (Celebs, Hello News, 4-18-2020)
• 'Write It Down': Historian Suggests Keeping a Record of Life During Pandemic (Anne E. Bromley, Virginia News, 3-17-2020)
• Dear Diary, the World Is Burning (Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 4-10-2020) On the value of private thoughts during a public crisis.
• Women Writing History: A Coronavirus Journaling Project (National Women's History Museum) "We invite individuals from all ages, backgrounds, cultures, and socio-economic circumstances to be a part of living history by keeping a journal in 30, 60, 90, 120-day, or any longer OR shorter increments, and contributing their journalistic efforts to the National Women’s History Museum. If life gets in the way of a daily, month-long journal, that’s okay! Simply commit to what you can or what you already have. You do not have to journal daily.
"The kicker, alas: By agreeing to donate your journal, it is understood that the purpose and intent of the gift is to transfer and assign all rights, title, and interest in the journal that you may possess to the National Women's History Museum. A Deed of Gift will be issued to you from the Museum. The NWHM and/or the Museum's collaborative project partner, The New York Times Company, may make discretionary use of the donated materials to include, but not limited to, exhibition, display, publication, digitization for preservation and access purposes, and making materials available for research and future scholarship. The NWHM reserves the right to decline any submission deemed inappropriate for the project." (Make sure you have the right to use your own story, especially as they reserve the right to decline to use it.)