Remote Socialization: Virtual Activities to Try with Others During COVID-19
Many of us have been searching for new ways to safely spend time with friends and loved ones while safe at home. Luckily, many hobbies and endeavors can be enjoyed together with others remotely! Here are a few ideas to connect through remote socialization.
Book Clubs
Reading helps keep us entertained and mentally stimulated. It also gives us a great reason to snuggle up under a tree at a park or under a blanket on the couch. Share your experience with a group of friends by starting up a book club! Planning a book club will allow you all to enjoy new literature together. It will also provide a fun, structured way to chat with a group on a scheduled basis! Some groups change their book theme every new selection, while others stay on a set genre such as Science Fiction or Fantasy. You could also focus on works from a specific period, related to particular topics, or books from one author or publishing house. For a unique twist, try a cookbook club where you all attempt a recipe from the same book!
Take a Class Together
Many esteemed colleges and institutes are providing select courses free of charge, such as Harvard, Khan Academy, and Yale. Take a class with some friends to continue your self-improvement journey together while cooped up at home. Courses cover topics from art history to food sciences, so there is bound to be something to pique everyone’s interest! Some masters are even offering their classes, such a Michelin Chef Massimo Bottura, who is leading an Instagram cooking course called Kitchen Quarantine.
Schedule Movie Nights
Many people are missing going to the theater together with tools like Netflix Party or Metastream to experience film together simultaneously. A hangout session like this is a relaxing way to feel like you are spending time with friends. Additionally, it doesn’t require an extensive input of energy. If you are looking to kick it up a notch, have every participant prepare a film suggestion from a theme and present all of the movies throughout the month. For example, have everyone pick a film from an individual director, genre, or featuring the same actor.
Share a Meal or Drinks Through FaceTime and Zoom
Just because you are stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the company during dinner! Coordinate a time with friends to have a meal and spend time cooking and chatting over a video call app. To add another level of cohesiveness, cook from the same recipe together!
Alternatively, renew happy hour traditions over video with friends or co-workers. End the week on a light note and make it a regular occurrence after work on Fridays!
Self-Care: Making the Most of Your Alone Time during this COVID-19 Shutdown
Things changed so quickly.
For many of us, it feels like we are on pause. Instead of spending our days outside enjoying the approaching warm weather, it is easy to feel as if we are simply behind glass, looking out, wondering when life will resume.
Since the COVID-19 crisis began, we have offered you suggestions on how to improve your relationship in a social-distancing-friendly manner, how to keep up your relationships when you can’t see your loved ones in person, and how to give back to your community.
It’s important, now more than ever, to reach out and maintain those ties that bind. But it’s equally as important to practice self-care. After all, you can’t fully invest in a relationship if you’re not whole yourself. And many of the things that fulfill us may be off limits right now. So how do you practice self-care if you can’t get to the gym, go for a manicure, have a picnic in the park with loved ones, or whatever else you usually do to get centered? Netflix binge sessions are great, but sometimes you need to get away from the screen for a bit. We’ve got a few ideas.
Embrace Art
Even if you’re not an art aficionado, doing something creative is balm for the soul. Maybe an adult coloring book and some vibrant colored pencils are your jam, or perhaps you prefer watercolors. Tap into your memories of elementary school art class (clay bowls, anyone?) and see what supplies you can dig up to indulge your inner creativity.
Do Some Gardening
Even if you live in an apartment, this is the right time of year to encourage new life by planting some seeds or starts. A kitchen mini-herb garden is easy to grow and useful for all that cooking you’ve doing lately. Or plant a flower box. If you find yourself working from home, you’ll have time to remember to water your seedlings, so even if you’re usually a black thumb, you might succeed this time.
Tackle That Home Project
Have you been meaning to paint your bathroom, fix your faucet, or tackle that Pinterest pin you saved two years ago but have never had the time for? Now’s that time. And there’s something so satisfying about improving your home. The project will get you out of any rut in which you might find yourself, with the bonus of making the place you spend all your time just a little nicer.
We’re all in this together, and it’s not going to last forever. A little self-care now will go a long way later when we’re all back to our busy lives. Hang in there, and stay well