This is what my life with Long Covid feels like.
I was infected in December 2022, as a fully-vaccinated, relatively-healthy, young-ish adult. I have one of the milder reckonings of Long Covid: I can leave the house (sometimes, when the weather is fair and pain only moderate) and I can draw (sometimes). I make this art for those of us who cannot.
Post-viral illness is not new, and I am thankful to those who have held lights in the darkness for decades. My Resources Page is full of links to learn from some of those people. Be curious, and please, be even more kind.
Why illmarks?
1. People who know the severity and diversity of Long Covid symptoms tend to take more precautions to avoid infections & help protect others.
2. Many People with Long Covid struggle to articulate the diversity and severity of our symptoms (or to be heard when we do).
Helping those two things is why I have been using my very limited energy for illmarks.
While creating these art pieces and managing this website are immensely meaningful to me in reconnecting with my body, I cannot overstate how hard it is to feel so disconnected from the visible parts of the planet’s lack of handling our ongoing pandemic.
I’ve had a couple of People with Long Covid (pwLC) tell me they shared a piece or two from this site with their loved ones who struggle to understand, and that means the world to me.
Easy ways to show solidarity with people with Long Covid (pwLC)
1. Wear a mask
– Sure, a well-fitting, high filtering mask/respirator like an N95 or comparable is best, but being visible in any mask is HUGE
– Seeing others in masks means we feel less alone, and yeah, a lot of us feel pretty damned alone right now
– It also means we are less likely to be targeted with exhausting personal questions during our “rare public appearances”
– Pick a few places to start out of solidarity. Matt McGorry recommends medical offices, grocery stores, and while on traveling/transit, and I agree.
2. Be an active ally!
– Educate yourself and others about post-acute infection syndromes, their severity, and be there for people like us.
– Take efforts to improve air safety, including HEPA and MERV13+ air filtration, with a goal of 6+ air changes per hour. An affordable DIY way is a Corsi-Rosenthal box.
– If you’re able, get updated booster vaccines. The virus is still rapidly mutating and previous vaccine protections are increasingly outdated.
– Say NO to any form of mask bans.
– If you’re USA: push back on any cuts to Medicare, Social Security, Scientific Research, or Vaccine development & accessibility.
2024-7-17: A previous version of this page used the title “this is what my fight with long COVID feels like” but I have updated it to eschew the military metaphor of illness, as Susan Sontag discusses in “AIDS and its Metaphors”.
If you’d like to support me and my work:
Hi, I’m Nyx Mir (fka D Mir.) I don’t include a lot of personal information here, because this art is about and for all of us. However, I am out of work due to Long Covid and while I filed for Social Security Disability in February 2024, I am still waiting.
I use ko-fi funds to support this art and get it into the world! This includes high-cost items like gallery-ready framing with UV-protective plexi and shipping these large aspect ratio frames to/from exhibits, and small things like application fees and domain renewals. These add up quick, and every small bit of support helps.
Sharing this project & my ko-fi is also hugely helpful! Thank you very much.
contact:
email me
(illmarks @ nyx mir . com)
.
The greatest trick ever pulled was making people think there was a difference between themselves & those who are at risk.