Finding Joy in Flattening the Curve

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Updated to add more resources....


It is just barely starting for us here, but I want to compile some links and ideas for things to do when you get stir-crazy, and you're done with your tele-working or making sure the kids have taken their class online:

  • Bake or cook: hopefully you have stock on hand (my store was low on flour this morning) but if you like to bake or cook, now you finally have the time, and if you have kids that are old enough to help, teach them to cook! Make chicken stock (I've been saving odds and ends in the freezer) or muffins or brownies or bread. Either make what you need to enjoy over the next few days or freeze to eat later.
  • Inventory your pantry, fridge and freezer -- what can you make out of what you've got? Put together a recipe list so you can pull something together. Short of meat? Can you convert a recipe to vegetarian and maybe a plant-based protein like beans?
  • Visit museums online. You can tour 12 Museums online.
  • That stack of vacation photos? Now's your chance to scrapbook them. (Or the first five years of your child's life. Have them help you!)
  • Five Ways to reduce your anxiety during these crazy times (from Inner Nature Therapy)
  • Sing! Sing like nobody can hear you. Or sing so your neighbor can join you like this neighborhood in Italy. (I've seen more videos from various parts of Italy doing this -- obviously this one works really well if you live in an apartment building)
  • Have a hobby? Now you can devote more time to it if it's an indoors/backyard one.
  • Garden: this might be a good time to start a container vege garden or plant some flowers to brighten up your windowsill. If you can't go out to buy plants, you can order seeds and some plants online to be shipped.
  • Keep a diary. What's your daily life like now? Write about the present, the minutiae of the day and how you're feeling. This can get feelings and concerns out onto the page. Then get up and do a dance to shake off sitting still for a while.
  • Keep in touch with friends and family: call, text, and video chat
  • Keep a gratitude list: find the little things to be grateful for
  • Deep clean: ok, this probably might be a little too OCD, but if like me you work full time and housework has fallen by the wayside, tackle a room, or a corner of a room, or a shelf.
  • And, of course, Wash Your Hands!
Of course, it's also perfectly fine to binge watch the latest Korean drama on Netflix or Viki (anyone else watching "The Fiery Priest"?) but balance it out with something that keeps you engaged. 

We may have to stay inside, but we can choose how we live inside.

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