Welcome to Moving Still — Editor’s Note
Media often tells us one side of the story, teasing answers to life’s uncertainties. Fairytales give life lessons through stories of riches and royalty, social platforms display a performance of reality, and journalism collects facts to document a situation, but bias is still unavoidable. As we crawled out of our homes after the world’s reopening, we sought a narrative to make sense of our experience. Providing no concrete direction to our team, we asked, “when you think of isolation, what do you see?”
You’ll notice that isolation can look different to different people. Sometimes it’s transfigured into the feeling of loneliness in a girl diagnosed with lupus, as read in Danica’s article, or maybe it’s the life of a fatherless daughter, as experienced by May. Sometimes it is being locked in a room, as prosed in Aroni’s poem, or maybe it’s losing connection on social media, as discussed in Belicia’s piece.
We’ve all, young and old, been forced in and out of isolation, as Juliana portrays in her short stories. Miguel digs deeper into elderly experiences and the digital divide. Then, Ricardo highlights how creativity can stem from isolation, followed by Duaa who discusses her experience with depression and the positives of online school. Hayden and Nik observe their world through a camera lens. And finally, in our pieces, we look outward and inward, shedding light on unequal access to healthcare in Northern and rural Ontario, and showing intimate memories of places only we see—dreams.
This magazine is called “Moving Still”, two words that feel contradictory, because just like our time in isolation, there are contradictory and complementary feelings intertwined in our collective and individual experiences, like water changing forms in different seasons. We’ve discovered that there isn’t one narrative that can describe our experience.
We hope that this collection of research and creative stories will encourage you to reflect upon your own narrative and find something you can relate to. And lastly, we hope this magazine will inspire you to see isolation as it is: not necessarily good, not necessarily bad, but simply a state we all experience in life.
Editor-in-Chief (Volume 48 & 49) | editor@themedium.ca — Liz is completing a double major in Chemistry and Art History. She previously served as Features Editor for Volume 47, and Editor-in-Chief for Volume 48. Liz is extremely excited to have spent her time as an undergrad at The Medium, and can’t wait to inspire others and be inspired in her final year at UTM. When she’s not studying, working, writing, or editing countless articles, you can find her singing Motown hits at her piano, going on long walks by the lake, or listening to music. You can connect with Liz on her website, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
Managing Editor (Volume 48) | managing@themedium.ca —
Elisa graduated with a double major in Psychology and Professional Writing and Communication in 2021. She previously worked as Editor-in-Chief of Compass Volume 8. If you ask Elisa what she's passionate about, she'd reply, "I don't know. Everything, yet nothing, I guess." If you ask Elisa what she wants to be when she grows up, she'd reply, "I don't know. We'll see." Well, at least Elisa is confident about her love for The Medium. Her thirst to understand why things are the way they are means you'll probably find her immersed in books, film, and other modes of culture in her free time. Connect with Elisa on her website, Twitter, or LinkedIn.