When the campus shut down last year and everyone was sent home, I thought that maybe I would finally be able to take a little bit of a breather from the stressful academic semester… I was completely wrong. The semester became more stressful, and it felt like the scary news of the Coronavirus would never end. (It still hasn’t, but we have made it through eight months so far.) During the first month of quarantine, when school was canceled for three weeks, all I did was watch Netflix every day and every hour. (The Tiger King era? That felt like years ago!) When the second month came around, and the world was becoming bleaker, I decided to find different things to do to make time go faster in quarantine. I did SO many things during quarantine, and I have come up with that list of things to do—I think it will help raise a person’s spirits. The activities included: baking, dance workouts, walking outside, and doing various art activities.
Something that happened during the first phase of quarantine and that will be remembered was everyone baking bread. I never had the patience to bake bread, and I did not want to disappoint myself when I inevitably destroyed it. But, one of my favorite things to do was to bake various desserts that I found while scrolling through Facebook. I tried my hand at making a five-step cheesecake pie. It seemed simple enough, considering it was only five steps. It was not, and it took way longer than expected. But it still boosted my mood, especially when I tried a piece of it. It gave me the courage to try my hand at other desserts.
TikTok became my other way of passing time. One thing that was always on my FYP page was dance workouts. I found myself doing dance workouts; more specifically, One Direction workouts. I would find the workouts either on TikTIk or on Youtube. The workouts lasted only about 15 minutes, and it was a great way to get up and move around for a little bit. It was also great to relive my One Direction days from when I was 10 years old.
I also spent a lot of time outside at the beginning of quarantine. I would take my dogs for walks or my sisters and I would kick around a soccer ball. Going outside, even if it was only for a short period of time, really helped with the stir-craziness. And it was great to spend time with my dogs and my sisters.
The feeling of anxiety was high during the first couple of months of quarantine. Watching Netflix was a great way for me to take my mind off of things, but I also enjoyed painting and embroidering. Both art activities were sort of a mindless task that I could complete while watching TV or sitting outside on my hammock. (Invest in a hammock!) I was able to complete so many art projects, and it was a great feeling.
The pandemic is still going strong, and no one knows when it is going to end. But, there are so many activities that people can do to relax and become creative. Doing these activities will allow people a sort of peace and help them to cope with the world around them.
Great article !