50 Things I’ve Been Doing While in Quarantine

Socially distancing, before it was required

I bought a beautiful planner last December – filled with empowering content, goal-setting guides, self-reflection sections, and encouraging quotes. I also spent some time creating my vision board for this year. Turns out, it didn’t need either one, especially not while living in quarantine! Other than looking through the planner, I haven’t used it at all. And the vision board is just that at this point: a vision of what my year was supposed to be.

Like all of us, I had plans. And as of mid-March, all of those plans have since been cancelled. For me, that included a conference where I was scheduled to present, coupled with co-hosting a large event one evening of the conference, which I’d been planning for months, running my first 5K, regularly performing at comedy and improv shows this year, and going on more auditions, a special trip abroad for a milestone birthday, some other significant personal goals I was planning to make come to fruition this year, plus spending more time with family and friends.

What’s that quote again? “Make plans, God laughs.”

Of course, the year’s not over yet, so there’s still hope for some of the things I had planned. But sitting at home for months under quarantine certainly wasn’t a part of my 2020 vision. Who knew all of this was to come this year?! Well – the Lord, of course. But not the rest of us.

It’s a lot to deal with right now. Every email I’ve received lately starts off with “We are living in unprecedented/strange/challenging/difficult times.” And it’s true – we are. We’re trying to survive a global pandemic and stay alive, y’all! None of us have ever lived through anything like COVID-19 before. We’re all trying to stay safe and healthy, trying to stay social, while socially distancing, trying to stay positive and sane, and trying to stay current on what’s happening.

On top of that, we’re all trying to manage this new, uncomfortable way of living. Many of us have to balance working from home and entertaining and educating kids who are home from school. We have to navigate shaky finances due to job losses and worry about widespread financial insecurity. Then there are those of us taking care of sick family members or worried about the health and safety of those who are front line personnel. Additionally, we’re dealing with stress due to over-consumption of media and frequent bad news, many the future unknowns, and the dark cloud of uncertainty following us everywhere. It’s heavy.

Anywho, I’m all about trying to stay positive and making the best of a challenging situation, so I’ve turned my focus to plenty of other things. I’ve been settling into and making the most out of staying home. I’ve been keeping close to God and my personal community and network, experimenting in the kitchen, regularly visiting “Club Quarantine,” working and creating, and overall trying to stay safe and healthy – and home. Plus, a zillion other things.

But here are the top 50 things I’ve been doing while in quarantine. Can you relate to any of these? What have you been doing to ease your mind amid the stress we’re all experiencing?