Voices
about it until you’re older.” When
Joan died, I couldn’t avoid it any
longer. I went through a period
of grief and depression, then
gratitude for the time we had together. I thought about death a
lot and found a comfort and clarity I didn’t expect. Beyond the
tragic truth lies a bright calm that
reminds me of my place in the
world. The moment becomes more
tactile. Things that stress me out
are reduced to their small and
rightful place. Things that matter to me get big and crisp again.
Contemplating death, as Stoics
and other philosophers encourage,
is a powerful tool to re-appreciate
the present and remember what
makes your life meaningful to you.
We’re all trying to make sense
of our lives and there’s great comfort in knowing you’re not alone.
Everyone you’re standing with in
line and everyone you’re sitting by
in a cafe and everyone you walk
past on the street is going through
challenges in their life. Yet it’s
easy to forget this because we
rarely venture beyond small talk
with strangers. There are a lot of
barriers when opening up.
I started making interactive
public art projects on abandoned
buildings as a way for my neigh-
CANDY
CHANG
bors and I to easily share our
memories and hopes for these
places. Then they became a canvas
to ask more personal questions as
my priorities changed. Am I the
only one who feels like I’m barely
keeping it together? The city historian Lewis Mumford once wrote
that the origins of society were not
just for physical survival but for
“a more valuable and meaningful
kind of life.” Some of the earliest
gathering places were graves and
sacred groves. We gathered so we
could grieve together and worship
together and console one another
and be alone together. Our public
spaces are our shared spaces and
at their greatest they can nourish
our well-being and help us make
sense of our communities and our-
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