It’s crazy times we’re living in right now– maybe that’s an understatement.

In March when the coronavirus was taking hold and New York City was slowly shutting down to mixed messages from the media and authorities. My colleagues and friends had been posting about the virus spreading in China and in Italy, so I was well aware of the danger at that time and had already started quarantining alone in my apartment. I, like many New Yorkers, was getting ready to settle in for the long haul– for how long we didn’t know by then, but I was ordering cheap, flimsy masks online for a grossly inflated $20 a pop and subscribing to my first frozen meal delivery program.

I was video chatting with my friend late one night when I suddenly heard a knock at the door.

For a peptite woman living alone in New York City, a random knock on the door in the dead of night is a bit alarming.

So I ignored it.

Fast forward to the next morning and I get a call from the front desk of my apartment building saying that a package was dropped off there by a neighbor. The neighbor had mistakenly been given a package intended for my apartment, and so brought it back down to the front desk for me to pick up.

I suited up for the journey, donning my expensive cheap mask, and went downstairs to retrieve the mysterious package.

The box was mangled– the tape torn and hastily pressed back together.

My mind was very much in “apocalyptic doom” mode, so I found this thing to be pretty suspicious. But when I flopped open the box, I was delighted to find that nestled inside, cushioned with crumpled brown paper, was an award!

My team and I had won an award from the Royal Wolf Film Festival for our music video “Crazy” by J-Key.

Talk about a silver lining (okay, more like a gold one)!

Thank you to the Royal Wolf Film Awards for recognizing our music video with this distinct honor. My team is delighted to receive this award, it feels good to know that all of our hard work on this project paid off!

Thank you thank you thank you.

In the darkest hours, it’s good to know that there can still exist moments of joy and celebration of the arts!