How are you? How am I? What the hell have I been doing? Here’s some things that are keeping me sane.
Google Calendar
Ok. This doesn’t sound like an exciting thing. But I feel it’s been key. And I’ve noticed the days that I forgot or left too many spaces open on my calendar, the crazier I feel. I start pacing around my small apartment, I start thinking of ways to spend money or I start thinking of texting young booty crushes that never text back. All unproductive and fruitless things to do during quarantine. The Google Cal is my pal that keeps me on track sending me email reminders of all the things I need to be doing during the day. Reminders to eat lunch, workout, write stuff, catch classes, get back to work — all that mentally healthy and productive stuff. Having these digital blocks of time reminds me of the mods I used to have in High School, even though I was a pretty non prompt and lackadaisical teen, as an adult I realize this self discipline stuff matters. It helps me manage my mind and day when I’m in the same small space constantly. Hopefully it forges some new habits and I’ll be like a butterfly coming out of my quarantine cocoon.
Skillshare
There’s no better time to learn stuff. There’s no distraction of a buddy wanting to hit a happy hour, there’s no urge to catch a yoga class and be seen and socialize. I am fortunate that I can do a lot right here. While I’m on government order to chill inside and avoid people, there’s no reason why I shouldn't grow as a writer and learn more about film. Skillshare is a great platform to do just that and I can learn right here in my apartment. Most of what I watch is about shooting and editing videos. Most recently, I dove into the undertaking of learning Adobe Premiere Pro CC so I can make more ideas come to life, tell stories I want to share and do it in a way that isn’t too painful to watch.
More Online Education
Since November I’ve been dragging my feet through a course about Einstein’s Special Theory Of Relativity on Coursera. Part of me enjoyed the extra home time and no FOMO to get this done. Even more exciting on the online education frontier is that The Second City is offering even more classes online, so once I clear up a few projects I’ll be diving back in and strengthening my funny bones because it’s my favorite school in the whole wide world.
Cooking
I’ve been cooking up a storm. Call me Big Mangia Boy. Call me the Cucina Beast. Call me Chef Man Humperdinkle Jones aka The Wooden Spoon Savage. I’ve been cooking it all. Fresh fishes, frozen fishes, fish squares, fish sticks, canned fishes. (There’s been a lot of fish.) Also a few firsts like scallops and tofu. And the usual pleasantries of smoked salmon, eggs, pasta-rasta-bonanzas, rices, leeks, broccoli, shrooms on shrooms, potatoes-o-plenty, baby-baby carrots — all the vitamin rich vivacious veggies. Anything I’ve been putting in my body has been filtered through my kitchen. Cooking so strong, I complained the other day that I’ve been eating too healthy. Amazon Prime has been keeping me stocked with fresh groceries and supplies while I’ve also relied on Blue Apron for a few meals. Avoiding the Publix panic and public surfaces has been a major priority. Side note, I also made a video of myself making pasta. And I think it’s safe to say there will be more of these to come. Watch me make pasta here.
Daybreaker
Daybreaker has been such a healthy source of good fun. They’ve taken their parties to the www with live streams of yoga and dance parties. Thousands of people from across the globe tune in and it’s pretty remarkable. Social Dis-dancing is on a strong course to be a phenomenon as people jiggle their junk in their own homes, bang spoons together, pull eggplants out of their sauna suits…. (ok that was only me). Point is, it’s an awesome experience I highly recommend. It’s led to me dancing like a cooped up fool in my living room. Sure, it’s something that happens often, but lately I’ve been compelled to capture it on film and transmit it out for some laughter and light-hearted lunacy for my friends to enjoy.
Nike Training App
Gotta stay home. Gotta stay fit. The Nike NTC App put all their premium trainers and programs for free and I’ve been taking full advantage. I can beam it to my Apple TV from my phone, drop the yoga mat in the living room and batta-boom. Ain’t much more to it. The trainers are top-notch and it feels like a private one-one session. I go hard, get sweaty and get in my deep ujjayi (ooo-ja-eee). Props to The Swoosh.
Amazoning
Ok. Yeah. So I’m not supporting local and shopping small. Sure... but maybe I can see it as supporting innovation. Really. There really has never been a better time to be an Amazon Prime customer. I’ll say it right to your Bezos face if I could — I am thankful for you, Jeff, and even more grateful for your army of delivery people and your legions of Fulfillment Center folks. And you know what else? By being an Amazon customer I’m also supporting Blue Origin, so when I look at it like that I can justify every nickel I spend to the moon and back. When you’re supporting a company that’s pioneering exploration into space and the advancement of the human species. Yeah, I’ll take Amazon orders all day. You can take my money if it takes us to the stars, Jeffery.
Meditation On Equinox App (But there are probably better ones for this)
Since I feel like I’ve been ordered on a personal meditation retreat inside my own home, I’m gonna make the best of it. I’ve always wanted to go on a retreat, now I’m just being forced by the government. Why don’t ya download yerself a mindful app and join me! I started with the free meditations on my Equinox app, but I imagine Calm or Headspace have some fantastic content to keep calm and safely quarantine on. If you need some cushion for your mental pushin’ check out this sweet maroon Zafu I grabbed to fluff up my mediation game.
Well, that’s all for now. I hope you stay well. And I hope you come out of quarantine healthy, strong and even better than you were before.