There is only so much binging-watching you can do before you lose your mind. Here’s a list of a few skills to improve your quality of life during — and after — quarantine.
- Take a Free Course
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Coursera offers hundreds of free courses from top universities and industry leaders. The selections of courses are completely free for anyone, and you have the option to learn for fun or earn a certificate. You can explore new interests and hobbies, as well as possible career options. You can take a course on Algorithms (by Princeton University), Introduction to Psychology (by Yale University), Contemporary Art (by The Museum of Modern Art), and so many more. Coursera is a great place to connect with others to ask questions and find inspiration about skills that interest you.
- Learn Film in 40 Days
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Film historian and Filmmaker Mark Cousins, best known as the writer and director of the 15 hour 2011 documentary film survey “The Story of Film: An Odyssey,” has created a visual lecture-style format aimed to teach the basics of film in 40 days. Available for free on Vimeo, the 2 and a half-hour film covers the style and content of film with short segments divided into certain topics like color, eyeline, drawing, depth, music, and tension. Timestamps are available for each segment, so it is possible to skip around for specific topics. According to Cousins, “40 Days to Learn Film” is also improvised, which is a testament to his endless knowledge of film.
- Learn to Cook With Massimo Bottura
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Massimo Bottura, the Michelin-starred Italian chef whose restaurant Osteria Francescana is considered the world’s best, has started a cooking show via Instagram called ‘Kitchen Quarantine’. Bottura has opened his kitchen to share simple recipes for others to follow along. ‘Kitchen Quarantine’ teaches you the basics of cooking, along with a set of top tips and insider knowledge to help you put together dishes with ease. His live streams show how he prepares meals with ingredients found in his kitchen, and he often simplifies complicated recipes. Bottura also shows ways to use leftovers to create delicious dishes and insightful Q&A’s.
- Take an Instagram Dance Class With Ryan Heffington
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Ryan Heffington, the two-time Grammy-nominated choreographer known for his iconic work with influential artists such as Sia, has taken to Instagram Live to get thousands of people dancing together in a spirit-lifting dance class. Previously, if you wanted to take a dance class with Heffington, you’d have to go to his L.A. studio, The Sweat Spot, or attend one of his classes in New York. However, now you can in the comfort of your own home.
- Join an Online Art Club
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Beginning to draw can be intimidating for some, so why not join an online art club to brush up on your skills and meet like-minded creatives. Instagram hashtags such as #quarantineartclub, created by Carson Ellis, and #drawingfromadistance, created by Sarah Beth Morgan, are encouraging people to exercise their creativity indoors. Each day there is a prompt, such as “Draw a self-portrait”, and based on the day and inspiration, you’ll create a drawing, painting, collage, or any other form of media. There are no rules in art, so you can let your imagination run wild.