It is no surprise that we are living in completely unprecedented times at the moment; the COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually every household throughout the world, with most people smartly quarantining themselves in their homes, anxiously waiting for these dark times to pass.
If you’re like us here at Studio Hill, you are sitting around constantly thinking about the horrible repercussions of this disease, while also desperately wanting anything to take your mind off of it. We want our gallery and website to be a safe, calming place for our customers and followers to escape to, whether it be to enjoy unique art installations or to follow our journey of rehabilitating an 1850s Greek Revival home. Because of this, we want this and all subsequent journal entries to feel like a small oasis, even if only for five minutes of your day.
Here at Studio Hill, we have been racking our brains to come up with any activity, both productive and unproductive, to help us get through this self-isolation as quickly as possible. And today, we want to share these ideas with you, in hopes that you, too, will find some solace and calm during these scary times. So, here are a few things we have been doing to keep ourselves sane; hopefully they keep you sane, too!
Go for a daily walk around your neighborhood. Even though venturing outside can seem scary right now, there is no harm in taking a leisurely stroll in the crisp, fresh air of spring. Getting even a few minutes of sunshine per day can make all the difference when it comes to your mood and state of mind. It can also provide you with some semblance of a routine—which is very important in keeping productivity alive.
Work on a challenging puzzle. For those with patience and time to spare, try breaking out a new puzzle to both stimulate your mind and keep your creative juices flowing. This calming activity can be done in soothing silence or with the entire family. Put on some good music, pour yourself a tall drink (alcoholic or otherwise), and revel in a pastime that you might not have had time to do under normal circumstances.
Watch old, nostalgic movies. Personally, here at Studio Hill we have been taking full advantage of our new Disney+ subscription and watching one film almost every night that brings us back to simpler times. Watching movies from your childhood can be a great way to decompress after a long day of listening to the news. It gives a sense of warmth and comfort when immersing yourself in the movies that defined your young, innocent years of youth.
Read that book that has been sitting on your nightstand for months. Now is the time to get through some of those books you really wanted to read but had no time or energy to get through them. Curl up on the couch, get your fuzziest blanket, and lose yourself in a good book for a couple hours. This will most definitely get your mind off of the real world, and hopefully reintroduce you to the joys of reading.
These are only a handful of the activities that we have been implementing into our daily routine since the quarantine. We hope that you try some of these out and share with us others that you have come up with! Something to remember during this time: sometimes the most productive thing you can do is not very productive at all.