Since I was released from my apartment at Illinois State and sent home during this pandemic, I have had many days to sit in my own thoughts. Being an only child and having two working parents, I do not have much social interaction during the day. I have been trying new things recently to get my body moving and active during this time.
1. Biking
I have not ridden my bike since I was a child but let me tell you that it is one of my new favorite ways to get active. The wind rushing by you as you ride down the street on a nice spring day gives me such positive energy that I enjoy so very much. Whatever you do, PLEASE WEAR TENNIS SHOES because you WILL wipe out and bust your face (not like I have personal experience on this or anything…..)
2. Painting and/or Drawing
When I was in high school, I always took an art class and it was my favorite part of the day. Creating art has been something I have always enjoyed but lost after graduation because of a lack of motivation and my never-ending schedule. I have dozens of unfinished sketchbooks that I have been spending my time trying to fill. It is so relaxing to layout on a hammock and just create art. If you have never painted before, I highly recommend letting your creative juices flowing and try it sometime. Plus, you can create your own wall decorations for your room.
3. Researching/Educating
I have been putting a lot of research into different areas of things I was not familiar with such as diseases/disorders, skincare, wellness, health, and much more. I have always loved educating myself on things, so I had the proper knowledge of things to not offend anyone on accident. I recently discovered a YouTuber by the name of DissociaDID and their channel focuses on the education of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Since I have discovered their channel, I have educated myself on DID and the many alters people can have. I highly recommend watching some of their videos because it is very interesting to see inside the mind of people who have many alters. I have also been educating myself on service dogs and the difference between those and emotional support animals. The last thing I have been very into educating myself on is skincare. I love skincare and I thought I was on the right track to healthy skincare products, but I was wrong. After watching many, many videos from Hyram on YouTube, I realized that half of the products I was using were not good for my skin. UGH!
4. Purging
Something that I have had a hard time doing my whole life is getting rid of things. One of my biggest fears in life is getting Alzheimer’s and not being able to remember things. I have always felt that having things that remind me of my childhood will help keep those memories. Everything I own I feel like has a special memory to it, even down to a concert ticket or wristband. I have recently been looking at my memory box that has turned into a memory tote and looked at things I couldn’t even remember now when or where I got them. I figured that if I could not put a memory to that item, it wasn’t important enough to keep it and holding on to it
would not bring back a memory. I have been letting go of many things such as clothes, items, books, etc. Purging my stuff has lifted a weight off of my chest because I am letting go of things that are not serving me purpose anymore and I am able to feel a sense of lightness to my everyday life.
5. Journaling
I have always tried keeping a journal or diary growing up, but the lack of motivation to keep up with the journal led me to never successfully finish a journal. It is weird to think I have never finished a journal because I love writing, but when your brain wants to say so many things at once that your hand can’t keep up, it gets pretty difficult. I have been trying to keep up with it because I want to be able to read them back someday. I hope to have a journal finished by summer. Fingers crossed!
Those are a few things I have been doing during this quarantine to keep myself from going insane. I hope that you get inspired by my list and try one of them yourselves! Be safe, be kind.
Lots of Love,
Jess ♡