I’ve heard from so many friends who’ve been having a hard time making sense of the coronavirus pandemic. It seems like it came out of nowhere and without much warning we’re all expected to self-isolate and stay at home. How are you handling things? Are you filling your days with decluttering and trying to tackle those home projects you’ve been putting off because you haven’t had time? Or are you barely moving from the couch as you surf from one news channel to the next?
We’ve all got different ways of handling the crisis the world is experiencing now. But if you’re anything like me, you’re probably neglecting taking care of yourself. Give yourself grace right now. And if you’re not sure how, here are my top 5 ideas…
Learn a new skill
Have you always wanted to learn how to cook? Interested in picking up a foreign language? Been meaning to take up knitting? Now’s the time. There are tons of free resources out there. My favorite place to go when I want to learn something new is YouTube. There’s a video on just about everything, including videos on how to find videos! Here’s one of my favorites…
Pamper Yourself
Manicures, pedicures, face masks… How about a long soak in the tub to relax those uptight muscles? Use that bath bomb you got for the holidays. Or add a few drops of essential oil to the tub. Lavender is one of my favorites and it helps me fall asleep faster, too. Or maybe shake some Epsom salts into the bath water to help you relax.
Bake
Imagine the smell of fresh baked bread. Or chocolate chip cookies. Or homemade apple pie. And if you’ve got little ones (or even big kiddos) around, have them pitch in and help. Making something from scratch is satisfying and tasty. For recipe ideas, I love to visit The Pioneer Woman’s site to see what she’s been up to. Her cinnamon rolls are to die for and make enough that you can freeze a few pans for later. My co-hostess of Romance Happy Hour, Dawn Luedecke, and I also put together a little recipe book with cocktails and treats with contributions from some of our guests from last year. You can grab it here.
Host a Virtual Girls’ Night
With so many options for connecting, you can still hang out with your gal pals without ever leaving your home. If there are just a couple of you start a Facebook video chat or a Google video call. For bigger groups you can set up a free account through Zoom but you’ll be limited on the length of your call. I’ve done this a few times already and am definitely planning on scheduling more.
Read
You didn’t think I’d write a whole post on how to nurture yourself without mentioning my favorite activity, did you? 😉 No matter what your preferred genre is, there are plenty of books out there just waiting for you. Escaping into an alternate world for an hour or two will do wonders for your anxiety. Amazon is even offering 2 free months of Kindle Unlimited right now. Know what that means? It means you can binge read the whole Lovebird Cafe series without spending a dime!
Free 2 Months of Kindle Unlimited: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/promoLanding?linkCode=w61&imprToken=6cs35WLQRdKBWMzXjrQq9Q&slotNum=0&campaignId=907ea992-8e47-45f1-bacf-eeee592e4423&promoCode=907ea992-8e47-45f1-bacf-eeee592e4423&tag=nypost-20&tag=nypost-20
Lovebird Cafe Series: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z8DY8LK?ref_=series_rw_dp_labf
However you’re handling the current state of the world, I hope you’re taking some time for yourself. And if you want to reach out, I’m here! I’ll be hanging out on social media and trying to spend as much time as I can writing new words to keep your mind off of things. XOXO
