Ways to Keep Busy
Here we are week two of working from home and self-isolating. I like everyone else is staying at home except for the occasional trip to the grocery store to avoid this crazy virus that has completely overtaken our world. But I do not want to talk about the virus or the craziness that has come along with it. As promised, this week I want to keep things a bit lighter and more positive. A place to escape everything that is going on. What I can do is take our current situation and use my love of writing to try and help anyone out there that may have stumbled onto my page here.
So if you are stuck at home with little to do (Which you very well should be! For goodness sake stay home people!) I have a few ideas to offer you for ways that can occupy your time. A really big one I want to mention is cooking. I personally have a pretty decent amount of skill when it comes to cooking and being in the kitchen. No, I am not going to be on the food network any time soon of course, but I am able to make decent meals for myself and my family. So maybe you do not have much skill in the kitchen but would like to learn. Why not use this extra free time to do so? I understand that a lot of places have sparse shelves at the grocery store, and you may not be able to get any fancy ingredients. A lot of simple recipes can be made from things you likely already have in your house. Gnocchi, for example, is typically made from potato, flour, egg, and a little salt. You could find a simple recipe online and make it for yourself as a nice dinner as a treat. Baking is another great example. Find a simple biscuit or sugar cookie recipe online and go from there. I personally have been trying a bunch of bread machine recipes (which, I suppose is cheating to an extent). A lack of ingredients shouldn't hold you back. You have to cook and feed yourself through this already right? Why not take some time to invest on a skill you will use for the rest of your life.
Another big example is working on an art you enjoy. I get it this is not everyone's cup of tea. I love to write and read, and I even paint and draw from time to time. I make a conscious effort to write daily if possible of course seeing as I have this very page, so I do realize that not everyone has that love in the same way I do. Maybe you have always wanted to write some more but never made the time. Well, you are out of excuses right now. We all have more time than we know what to do with right now. If you love poetry, go ahead and write a poem. No one needs to read it but you unless you choose to share it. One of the beautiful things about poetry is that there really are no rules if you don't want to stick to a specific form. You may surprise yourself. I joined a poetry website just for fun, having never really written a poem in my life, a year ago yesterday and here I am today published in two different books now, one of which I finally have in my hands (pictured) and it feels amazing. You just may find out that you have a real talent for something once you apply yourself. If you want to paint, if you have the supplies to do so, just do it! Start with something abstract where you just play around with colors and you end up with something like a Jackson Pollock painting. If you have a book you have been meaning to get around to right now read it! You currently have no excuses!
I think one of the most important things we also can and should remember to do right now is to spend time with our loved ones. I think one main lesson this virus is teaching us is just how fragile, unpredictable, and short life is. We never truly know how much time we have with each of the special people in our lives we have left. Now please do not misunderstand me here. You very much still need to be staying at home and keeping your distance from others, so we can stop the spread of this virus. You should be staying just in your homes and not visiting with anyone. That is the beauty of the world we are living in right now. You can email, call, facetime, skype, etc. with your loved ones that are not in the same home as you. I have facetimed with my sister more times in the past two weeks than we ever had before. If you are lucky enough to have people around you in your homes then spend some time with them. Have family dinner, take a coffee break together if you are working from home, play a board game, watch a movie together. There is a pretty endless list of what you can do together. I am grateful to be able to spend some extra time with our family pup Tobie as he is getting older and likely won't be with us much longer. As annoying as he can be I am still happy I can be with him right now. You were given this time together for a reason, so embrace it!
Alright now that I have given you a number of ways to busy yourself there really is no reason that you need to leave the house right? I know I sound like a broken record... just ask my sister who I give this lecture to every day it seems like. To anyone acting selfishly during this time please just realize that the sooner we work together, the sooner we can get back to living a normal life. I get it I am bored too! Even with activities and such I mentioned we are all going to get bored. But this is all for a really good reason so keep your butts inside! Use this time, as I have been saying, to work on a new skill or hobby. Maybe you will leave this self-isolation being able to cook a 4-course meal for your extended family once we can gather again. Maybe you will also become a published poet. I plan on finally finishing Paradise Lost in the coming weeks as well as writing some more poems. Heck I couldn't sleep last night so I wrote a Tanka poem about a childhood memory I was thinking about. Spend some time on yourself and in turn you will be ensuring not only your health, but the health of many others around you. Stay safe and healthy readers!
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