Launching UNDSCVRD Markets @ Sunday Streets During a Pandemic
COMMUNITY.
We all need it. As humans, we’re not meant to be this alone and isolated.
I’ve been living under a pretty strict quarantine with my husband and dog Mochi for exactly 176 days (I’ve kept a calendar). Like so many in the beginning, I scrolled furiously on my phone reading article after article every day to learn the latest on coronavirus #s, trends, discoveries, and theories. Everything was so uncertain, and it was hard to know who to believe in the media. I didn’t realize it at first, because it was like a slow burn, but it all got to me.
– It made me scared, angry, and uncertain.
– It made me start to see people as viruses, instead of human beings.
– It made me judgmental of others who weren’t following the rules.
And all this fear and isolation caused a *shit ton of anxiety* to build up in my body over the past month, causing me to feel almost paralyzed to work or make decisions. My email was 200 inbox deep daily for weeks, even though I literally TEACH a Gmail inbox workshop. I felt so out of control. And I felt shameful about my un-productivity, even though I was working 9-12 hours every day. I was working so hard, why wasn’t anything getting done? I started doing pushups every time I started feeling anxious to shake it off and hit refresh.
Last Sunday when I went to Deanna‘s block party for Little Skillet, I was reminded of community. Of how good it felt to just BE with people. I listened to music, looked up at the SF building skyline/sky, and closed my eyes for a second.
I felt alive again.
Photo from Sunday Streets SoMa 2019
Tomorrow, Sunday September 6th, Make it Mariko, along with our partners Livable City & UNDISCOVERED SF, are launching the FIRST official street closure in SF’s South of Market area aka SoMa, thru the #SharedSpaces program. It’s truly unfortunate, and a HUGE equity issue that SoMa doesn’t have a street closure, considering they are one of the most dense districts in SF. But this is why I’m so proud that our team is working on this event!
Our team has been working on this for months. SO many hoops, permits, budgets, approvals, advocacy, and already 2 canceled weekends due to poor air quality. It’s been hard, and I’ve had to overcome a lot on anxiety to get here to be ready to produce this event tomorrow. But we’re ready to bring community together: SAFELY, slowly, and incrementally.
I’m proud that we’re doing SOMETHING. Because there were honestly many times where I wanted to throw my hands up and back out of the whole project. But the residents of SoMa deserve to have open space too! Especially within our beloved SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District.
JOIN US to slowly bring back community, in the safest way that we know how, with the current rules that are in place.
I hope that this may provide you a small moment where you can look up at the SF skyline and blue sky, be WITH community, and feel alive again.
– Gina Mariko
Make it Mariko Founder & Owner
