Damn This Pandemic!
I’m sure being in month nine of a pandemic has left you with at least some cabin fever. I’ve definitely felt it, especially since I lost all my clients at the beginning, I suddenly had a lot of time and very limited funds on my hands. Thankfully, the internet provided new ideas on activities to do at home. When I wasn’t freaking out about finding work, I was able to fill my time with new activities.
The first activity I tried was taking virtual dance classes with my local dance and fitness studio called Hipline. Since I just moved to Oakland from SF last year, I was looking for a place to meet people and shake my ass without feeling judged. I actually started physically going to the studio in January this year, before the world got rocked by the pandemic. They immediately adapted to virtual dance classes, and I’ve been with them ever since. What’s great about this studio is that it’s focused on discovering your body movement and moving in a way that feels good, rather than how accurately you follow the choreographer. There’s HELLA ass shaking and feelin’ yourself and gassin’ yourself up, it’s truly a spiritual experience to be part of this dance community.
Another activity I tried during shelter-in-place is macramé. Funnily enough, I used to make hemp "jewelry” using square knots in high school for me and my friends. I know I know, very 311 Amber is the color of your energy. I grew up in Southern California where that shit is RAMPANT but I digress! ANYWAY, knowing how to make square knots was actually super helpful with learning macramé. I bought a couple books and looked at a few Youtube videos on how to make different household items like plant holders and wall decor, but ultimately I decided on making a produce bag, which was actually not that hard! However to be honest, I’m not super consistent with it since getting the supplies, but lately I have been picking it back up. It’s definitely a really fun and calming thing to do when you want to unplug and focus on making something with your hands. I don’t consider myself a “maker,” but I do love to unplug and make cute bags so why not!
Recently I heard a podcast host talk about how she wanted to make more time for play in her life, and it got me asking myself, what is something that I used to LOVE to do when I was a kid? Then I thought omg, rollerskating! I used to rollerblade/skate all over the apartment complex I lived in with my friends and relatives when we were kids. I even used to live directly across the street from the rollerskating rink in Golden Gate Park and somehow never participated. Better late than never, I bought a pair on eBay and have been getting my skating legs back slowly but surely.
My most recent activity is tarot card reading. I never really had an interest in tarot reading, not for any particular reason other than it had never really crossed my path. Serendipitously, the company Parade was including a free deck of Rider Waite cards when you purchased a pack of their underwear. I’ve never even touched tarot cards before, but after doing some research on Youtube and asking my friends around, I decided to give it a try. I like to do the simple one card readings, and since I’ve gotten them I’ve been doing daily readings as part of my morning routine while I drink coffee. It’s calming and it feels good to set aside some intention to be introspective. For me, they don’t tell me the future or anything scary (I’m a beginner lol), I use them as more of a validation of certain things going on in my life. My approach with the cards just like anything else outside of the empirical world is to take what applies, and leave the rest.
All of these activities has helped me physically, spiritually, and mentally, and are just a few different things I’ve tried this year. I think the important thing is to find a balance of activities that you can do inside and outside your home safely, so that you have a sense of grounding with all the chaos going on in the world. At the very least, I hope this post has inspired some of you to try something new. After all, YOLO!
