Solitary reflections on being in-between

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the COVID-19 pandemic, as shelter-in-place orders were issued in the United States, most people were confined to their homes and adjusted to new domestic routines. This essay traces my routine of walking through different landscapes in Santa Cruz and reflects on being in-between languages and continents. I entangle personal reflections with theory in an attempt to portray the experience of being quarantined across borders in an unfamiliar country with a foreign language and culture. I explore how being in between languages, being nomadic, can serve to deconstruct identity. I find myself observing and contemplating ideas of home and travel, as well as the diversity of landscapes and forms of existence. This essay is a first-person narrative observing the thoughts and sensations that occur in an attempt to disconnect from the saturated screen experience of everyday life and connect with nature and contemplative interior states.