Let’s face it, times are not good. The #Coronavirus has overtaken the world and hijacked life as we knew it. I’m finding inventive ways of coping.
Over the past two weeks, many of us began living under PAUSE ("Policies Assure Uniform Safety for Everyone"). We have no choice but to do our part in practicing #socialdistancing and keeping ourselves, our loved ones and our communities safe.
Not so easy, if you live in a big city where most of your life takes place outside of your somewhat small home. If there’s an upside to this #stayathome policy, it forces us to be more creative in our altered daily activities.
After I do the essentials – work, grocery shopping, drugstore and other necessary errands – here’s how I’ve made it through the first ten days.
New Routines
Exercise: With no gyms open, exercise has become mainly walking around near my apartment after sunset when there are fewer people. I’m lucky to have large green areas, so I can put in a few miles. As I saw this state of isolation becoming inevitable, I loaded up on hand weights and found my old Pilates DVD. It’s better than nothing and exercise always helps my mental state. I’m working on putting these activities into a daily routine.
Cooking: I pride myself on my cooking, but I’ve been experimenting with recipes featuring peppers and anchovies – two ingredients I don’t cook with very often.
Entertainment: Recently viewed movies have included light-hearted fare such as the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedy trilogy; the Jacques Tati films featuring the character of Monsieur Hulot – Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot, Mon Oncle and Playtime. Less light fare has included my umpteenth time watching Alex Garland’s Ex Machina and Jules Dassins’s Rififi. And lastly, Judy featuring Renee Zellweger’s Oscar-winning performance.
Reading: I’m diving into a few books that have been sitting on my shelves: This Cold Heaven, Seven Seasons in Greenland and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Organization: Digging through all of my kitchen cabinets, I've thrown out the old stuff and reorganized existing stuff for better access and optimized use of space. Closets – saving those for next week.
Shop updates: While sales are non-existent in my Etsy shop, tcgVINTAGEetc, I’m using the time to polish my listings with new photography and juicier copy.
It’s looking like quite a few more PAUSE weeks ahead. My next task is creatively thinking up new projects to pass the time.
How are you coping during this PAUSE?
Photos © 2020 Janet Giampietro.
