Editor’s Note

Dear Readers,

When we released the Spring 2020 issue of the Health Humanities Journal in early April of this year, I said that the field of the health humanities seemed even more important now than usual. The intervening months, far from settling down, have only proven that assertion again and again. We collectively face a global pandemic that is not only casting our awareness of physical health and death into sharp relief, but also affecting mental wellness as we contend with the burdens of grief, isolation, and anxiety for the present and future, all the while trying to find ways to express our experiences and show empathy to those both near and far from us. I know you, as well as I, have probably gotten tired of hearing the word “unprecedented,” but unfortunately I must apply it again because I don’t know how else to describe the way the Fall 2020 semester has unfolded. Thankfully, the contributors to this edition of the journal have not run out of words in the same way.

The production of the journal this semester was certainly different than it has been in years past, but I was nevertheless impressed and humbled by the array of work submitted for consideration. The willingness to confront painful topics, share vulnerable experiences, and craft stories that use imagination to delve into meaningful and relevant issues never ceases to surprise me. In this volume, artists turn to imagery to express the weight of anxiety and depression, poets grieve their friends and family members, students explain lifelong struggles with eating disorders and migraines, and children care for their parents as best they can. Most significantly, a common thread the Editorial Staff and I began noticing in the pieces selected was attention placed on care of loved ones. This appeared in working through grief with family members, bridging barriers of understanding with partners and friends, sharing the burdens of parents’ illnesses, and empathizing with patients with the same intensity as a close relative. Even in this difficult time in the world, when it is easiest to hide away and hope for life to return to normal, what proves most imperative is our readiness to care for others even when we feel ill-equipped. One medical student describes a son repeating “I love you” to his dying father and wonders, “Was he making up for the times he hadn’t said it or squeezing in all the times he wouldn’t be able to?” It seems to me that the reports of giving and receiving care in these works are nothing less than a litany of “I love you”s. In spite of the circumstances, in spite of all hardships, we show our love for those around us and seek healing in the endeavor.

I am deeply grateful to the members of the Editorial Staff. Even though we have been unable to meet in person, it has been an important part of my week to hear your thoughts and celebrate your work as we constructed this issue of the journal. Special thanks to those who helped in the continuation of the Walker Percy Prize and in the production of our new Health Humanities Podcast, which features readings and interviews with past authors published in the journal and is available on our website and most large podcast platforms. Thanks also goes to Dr. Jane Thrailkill and Dr. Kym Weed for their support and guidance, and to our sponsors, particularly Honors Carolina, the Department of Social Medicine, and the Carolina Parents Council, whose generous continued support has allowed us to maintain production of the physical journal as well as expand onto virtual platforms, enabling us to bring the work of the published authors and artists to a greater audience within the UNC-Chapel Hill community and beyond. Finally, thank you to our contributors for your insight and trust sharing your poems, stories, and art. Thank you for offering us an example for when our own words fall short.

The Editorial Staff and I are proud to present the Fall 2020 issue of The Health Humanities Journal of UNC-Chapel Hill. We hope that it serves as an introduction or an opportunity for deepening of your exploration in the field of the health humanities and that it can provide some guiding light in the value and diversity of a creative, personal approach to contending with illness, caregiving, experiences with the medical system, and life in a global pandemic.

All my best,

Elizabeth Coletti

Editor-in-Chief