What a particular time this is. Surreal and anxiety-ridden. Faced with uncertainty and abrupt changes, we’re all trying to adapt and adjust to these changes as they unfold day by day. Until a few days ago I was very energetically preparing and gearing up for my first solo exhibition. I was focusing on the final preparations and suddenly…ta-dah…all plans flew out the window. Many events were cancelled and postponed, and this is inevitably quite disruptive and chaotic, but obviously health is a priority and keeping safe whilst curbing the virus spread is a must.
Staying at home
For the most part of the day, I generally work from my home studio, so staying at home during this time is not such a drastic change for me. However, my mindset feels different. Right now it feels as if some large universal brakes have been hit, shaking us all in the process. And zooming back in on my daily life in the studio, I’m still trying to find a new routine and attempting to make sense of things.
Positive observations
However, amidst these uncertain situations I can observe a number of positive things around me. First of all, I am finding the new sense of calm and the slowing down of life in general quite appealing. There is a sense of going back to basics and to essentials. Things are quieter and with no particular sense of urgency. This leaves us with more space for thinking and reflection and more time to do other things outside our usual routine. Even completing an everyday chore without a particular rush feels somewhat special. This makes me wonder about our own self-inflicted stresses that we seem to have been creating over the years…in order to “live” our life “to the full”.
Another positive thing I noticed is the sense of community. Keeping in touch with family and friends, checking on each other, and respecting the practice of keeping a physical distance from each other, have somehow, ironically, brought people closer to each other. There is this one common denominator connecting us all right now, and although through unappealing circumstances, it is in a way presenting us with opportunities to bond and relate more to each other.
Also, quite positive, is the prospect of implementing creative measures, such as finding ways to do our work differently, finding ways to use our extra time at home to do things we don’t usually have time for, and similar approaches. This is obviously more applicable to those people who are able to work from home or who are advised to stay indoors. My sincere gratitude goes to all the people who are still out there working tirelessly to take care of us and provide us with what we need, to keep the wheels turning.
Make the best use of housebound hours
Here I’d like to share a few ideas of how one could use any extra time spent at home to make the best use of housebound hours.
Plan your day together with your family and maintain some structure
Disinfect common areas, doorknobs, telephones, etc.
Clean the house (general cleaning)
Sort out that drawer which you’d rather leave closed to avoid stress
Organize and file those papers, currently stacked somewhere in a huge pile
Organize files on your laptop
Revisit a long-forgotten project
Prepare some healthy meals
Gardening (or pot gardening)
Read those books you bought but left on your bookshelves
Work on your hobbies …. Can you adapt aspects of your outdoor hobbies to do them at home?
Pick up a new hobby…if you’re not sure what to do yet just start by doing some research on existing hobbies
Listen to some podcasts
Learn a new skill or a new language
Watch those movies or episodes saved on your ‘watch later’ list
Catch up on sleep when possible
Call a friend or a family member
Play games
Try out a new recipe…yes it is now time to bake that cake
Exercise and stay active…especially after eating that cake
Have some time alone to do some thinking and reflection
Pray on your own or as a family
Take care of yourself (whatever works for you to take care of your body and mind, like yoga, meditation, homemade facial, relaxing bath, etc.)
I hope to inspire you to do something enjoyable, or at least fruitful, and alleviate some stress. May you inspire others with your own ways of dealing with this current unique situation. Comment below with your own ideas. Let’s inspire and help each other.
Stay safe,
Christine x