Aside from being an enormous economic and social crisis, the coronavirus pandemic is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating periods of modern human history.  It is almost certain to be a period looked back on by historians as one of the defining eras of the 21st century.

While obviously there will be the history as recorded by the print and digital media, a project from the Human Systems Dynamics Institute is attempting to crowdsource stories of the pandemic from individuals around the world.

Their approach combines short narratives and responses to questions about our experiences with the virus, in a bid to hear how the pandemic has infected our lives, straight from the horses mouth.

“In our connected society, it’s easy to post pictures and tweets about what you’re experiencing at the moment,” the team explain, “but those social media posts are often lost in the noise and the detailed stories behind those moments are never collectively interpreted. Most importantly, the patterns that could have led to our decisions in those moments are never defined.”

COVID stories

The team believe that by enabling the collection of stories from people who are experiencing the pandemic in real-time, they can gain a better insight into the way it’s effecting people’s lives.

“While each of us may be alone in our day-to-day experience, we are participating in an emerging global crisis,” they say. “Statistics about our behaviors and health status fill the public press and social media, but the patterns of our individual experiences are hidden from view. When we share our stories and make sense of them for ourselves and with others, we will begin to see how the future is unfolding around the world. That is the innovative contribution of this instrument at this time.”

The project aims to help make sense of the time from those who are living through it.  Not only are participants asked to share their experiences however, they are also helping to interpret what they share.  They were asked to complete a questionnaire through which the meaning of their experience would be conveyed.  The aim was for this to help both illuminate their experience, and also help provide lessons for future crises like this.

“Only a month or two ago we all had plans — things we were going to do, places we were going to go, people we were going to see, or projects that felt critically important. And now? Now we are faced with re-thinking and re-imagining what our lives are actually about,” the team says. “Our challenge in this profound moment of renewed awareness is to discern patterns that emerge out of what looks like chaos. To understand what was influencing and shaping those patterns. To understand why some folks went for toilet paper, while others began making protective masks.”