With all of the chaos and turmoil that has happened over the past couple of days we all can agree: self-isolation is hard. It can be hard not having that daily interaction and guidance from our teachers and even harder not being able to see or hang out with our friends. However, something that I have constantly heard over the past couple of days is how the greatest artworks were created when the artist was going through difficult times much like these. I was then faced with the fact that even though the situation we all are finding ourselves may not be ideal it still is a new opportunity given to us. We are given almost complete freedom over our schedules, the opportunity to take that afternoon walk we always wondered about, or pick up the hobbies we had dropped to the business we faced.

In this article, I just wanted to share a few different ideas of things to do that I found that I hope will help if you ever run out of things to do or are simply looking for something new to try. 

Reading

At first, this might be an immediate skip for a lot of us in that we associate reading with something we have to do in school and rarely do for recreation. Use the extra time you find out what types of books interest you and take the opportunity to learn something new.

Netflix

Take this extra time to explore that show your friends have been talking about for weeks that you haven’t been able to watch due to your busy schedule. Aside from fictional shows, you have access to documentaries, cooking shows, and more.

Take a Walk

Seeing this you probably were thinking, “if we can go on a walk, then why can’t we do other things outside of the house, like hanging out with our friends?” The important thing to realize about self-isolating is that it does not mean locking yourself in a room, but avoiding contact with other people as much as possible to prevent the chance of you passing the virus to someone who may be vulnerable to it. This means that taking a walk or exploring the different aspects of nature in your environment or neighborhood is fine as long as they are not endangering those around you.

Journal

Without a doubt, these past few weeks have been hard for a lot of us as students having to deal with the abrupt change in our everyday pace of life and not being able to see our friends every day. Journaling provides a way for you to get out and process all of these feelings and emotions to help you better understand not only situations you are going through but who you are as a person.

Vision Board

A vision board is a collage that is created using images and text that represent where you want to be or who you want to be in the future. Although, what we may currently be able to do is limited, by creating a vision board we are able to plan for the future and stay motivated to chase those goals and dreams.

Express Yourself through Art

As stated earlier, history shows how the best art is often created during times of uncertainty and trials. This is because art itself is the expression of feelings and emotions and can take form in a variety of ways whether painting, photography or through musical instruments. Now is the perfect time to pick up that instrument you have been putting off or picking up the pencil or paintbrush to create something beautiful.

Recreate a Music Video

Sure the every once and awhile Tiktok is fun, but why not go further? Grab your camera and recreate your favorite music video using the different things you can find in your house. At the end of the day, you will have gotten to listen to your favorite song for an entire day and have an awesome video to share with your friends and memories that will last for years.

Clean and Organize your Room

While cleaning can seem more boring than doing nothing at all, it can be a great way to pass time and help set you up for future success in the future. When cleaning, it is likely that you will find objects or things that will bring up the different childhood memories you had that you might have forgotten which can be helpful in dealing with this difficult time. By being more organized and clean, you are able to quickly and easily know where everything you need and while cleaning you also has the chance to find helpful objects or things that you did not even know you had that will help you in the future.

Houseparty

Even though we are unable to hang out with friends directly, through apps like Houseparty, Skype, or Marco Polo, you are able to video chat and catch up with how they are doing. Using Houseparty specifically, multiple people are able to video chat together and even play games with each other. 

I just wanted to end by encouraging everyone who is anxious or stressed out about the recent changes in life to keep moving forward. Yes, it can be extremely hard at times and that feeling that way is completely okay, but it is also important to realize the different opportunities these changing situations have opened up to us and to not hesitate to take advantage of these. Take advantage of the time you get to spend with family or explore the hobbies you have been putting off forever. More importantly, take this time to know how loved you are by your friends and the power you have to help those around you through this difficult time.

Photo Credits: フキノ on Twitter