Keeping Busy in the Apocalypse: Tips from Your Sick Friend

Life has changed drastically over the last two weeks and, like the responsible humans we are, we’ve all retreated inside to wait out the storm. For some of us, that transition has been painful. While introverts are sharing memes about how this is our moment to shine, extraverts are having a very difficult time sitting still. I, however, am disabled and chronically-ill so this is not the first time I’ve had to stay inside for weeks and weeks at a time. It isn’t even the first time I’ve had to do this in the last year. In fact, I’ve spent the better part of the last four and a half years inside. For able-bodied folks, this is a scary, temporary challenge. For people like me, this is the reality of our day-to-day lives.

Through my years of involuntary social isolation (not to mention eleven years of homeschooling), I’ve become very, very good at keeping myself occupied and I’d like to share some of those time-filling ideas with you. We’ve all seen the lists floating around about how to work-from-home effectively and while that’s all well and good, a lot of us are out of work for the foreseeable future. So to all my fellow rudderless friends, this one is for you.

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ORGANIZATIONAL PROJECTS:

• Declutter your closets, reorganize that cupboard. Sort through every single one of your mugs and decide which ones you don’t love anymore. Make it your personal challenge to turn your apartment into its best functioning self.

  • More to consider while nesting: Can you easily access the spices you need or is your cupboard a full-on nightmare like mine?

  • Is your furniture set up in the most efficient way for how you live your life? [Example: I’ve set up my entire house to be disability-friendly, with no floor obstacles and plenty of surfaces I can lean on when I inevitably get dizzy while standing.]

• Pro-tip: If you’re a person who likes to compete with themselves, take a page out of my very practical friend’s book [pictured here].

• Pick a chore or other activity you’ve been dreading. Identify the sub-tasks, then estimate how long you think each item will take you. Write it all out. 

• Time yourself as you do said task and write out your actual time. See if you can beat your own personal best. You’ll likely be pleasantly surprised by the results. (And if not, you’ll be motivated to do better next time.)

The literal page from her actual book.

• Overhaul your wardrobe and set aside the things you don't wear for whenever we’re allowed to go to Goodwill again.

  • To kill even more time, try every single item on to determine just how much joy it brings you.

  • Get creative and style full outfits from pieces you wouldn’t think could go together. Worst case, you get some ridiculous looks you can Snapchat to your equally housebound friends. Best case, you know what you’re wearing out post-Quarantine.

• Clean out your phone’s camera roll. We both know this is going to take an eternity and isn’t that why we’ve been putting it off in the first place? There are no excuses now—we’ve got nothing but time.

  • Pro-tip: Google Photos provides free unlimited media storage for compressed images. It’s a great resource, but if you need to keep full quality images, offload them elsewhere before utilizing this for your phone back-up.

Frankly, this number is irresponsible.

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CREATIVE PROJECTS:

• Now is your moment to master every hobby you’ve never had time for. Have you wanted to learn to draw? How about learning to play the guitar that hangs out in the back of your closet? Maybe this is the perfect time to get into yoga. All of this is easily available online!

  • Sign up for a trial period on Skillshare and find courses on nearly any creative endeavor. You can get two months free right now! I’ve personally had a Skillshare subscription for several years and it’s never disappointed me.

  • It's imperative to keep yourself moving and burn off some excess energy in this downtime. There are a lot of great yoga resources on Youtube. Yoga with Adriene in particular has a huge library of practices. Yoga from home comes with the added bonus of being able to swear at the screen as much as you need to.

• Now is the best time to team up with your sequestered creative friends and get a digital magazine going. If/when this is all over, we’re going to want to remember these strange times. Why not immortalize your thoughts, for better or for worse?

  • This is a great collaborative activity for creatives of all kinds. You can collect fiction, non-fiction, comics, artwork.

  • Even though it would be most ideal to have a physical book at the end, you can always publish and share as a PDF—no expense involved! Since PDFs can be made interactive, you could even embed  videos and audio files.

• Create a series of self portraits throughout this time of Quarantine. They can be as simple or as complex as you want and in any medium, but the key is to go with your first instincts.

  • The best time to draw might be when experiencing especially strong feelings of panic, sadness, boredom, ennui, etc. There’s no wrong answer. You could even choose a color palette that aligns with your vibes.

  • When this is all over, you can compare your portraits and see how different feelings change your perception of yourself. What you’ll do with that information is up to you, but a little self reflection can go a long way.

• Keep a daily journal. I promise, someday, you’ll want to look back on this and remember what you were feeling during this wildly unprecedented event—plus, all those thoughts buzzing around in your brain will better serve you if you can get them out onto paper.

  • Write as much or as little as you like. If you, like me, are not a journaller, go small—write one sentence about something that stressed you out and one sentence about something you enjoyed about the day.

  • If you like to draw, consider comic journalling. You may be able to access different pieces of your experience by expressing words through pictures.

• Write letters to your quarantined friends. We’re all thankful for future tech like video chats, but now is also a great time to go analog. There’s something cathartic and romantic about sitting down, pen in hand, and writing to someone you love. For now, USPS is still chugging right along despite rain and sleet and snow and plague, so might as well utilize the resource.

  • Longform letters are great, but if you don't have the bandwidth, you could use this time to decorate your own postcards. [But pro-tip: look up the postal guidelines on spacing for the back of the card.]

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GAMES:

• Use Discord to set up a remote RPG game with your friends. You can always play some good old fashioned Dungeons and Dragons, but there are plenty of other game options. However you choose to go about it, this is a great way to keep some socializing within your social distancing.

  • Support indie gamers and buy a gamebook from platforms like Drivetrhu RPG.

  • Make up your own game, if you’re feeling really ambitious. Who needs strict rules at a time like this?

  • You can find more specific resources on how to get your own game started in this article from Polygon.

• Get really into Words with Friends again. Alternatively, if you’re quarantined with someone and have a physical Scrabble board, get really into Fun!Scrabble.

  • Fun!Scrabble is all of the game and none of the rules—you can make up any word you want, but the catch is that you have to come up with a definition and then defend it to your fellow player(s). If they accept your new word into the lexicon, points may be gathered! If they shoot it down, try again (or pass to the next player). Real words are accepted too but we all know that’s way less fun.

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All of this is off the top of my head so as the Quarantine progresses, I’ll likely do a follow-up piece with even more suggestions. Feel free to leave me comments with things you’ve found entertaining and/or productive. We’re in this together, globally speaking, and despite the social distancing of it all, we’ve never had more ways to stay in touch. Let’s pool those resources and help each other make it through this in one piece.

Houston, We Love You | Post Hurricane Harvey

For those of us that do not live in hurricane territory, it's difficult to imagine the devastation that is currently going on in Houston, TX. We see the photos of the elderly, stranded up to the chest in water. (They've been rescued, by the way!)  We read heartbreaking stories from families who have lost their homes, their cars, and feared for their lives. We see the pleas for donations and prayers and compassion, but when you're on the outside, it's hard to know how exactly you can help.

I've never been to Houston and while I want to help, my voice is not the one that should be speaking here. I asked my lovely friend and current Houston resident, Koryn, to write whatever was on her heart. (I love Koryn and her beautiful little family a lot and am so thankful that they are safe.)

“A lot of people outside of Texas have very little concept of the Fourth Largest City in the US. Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the entire US. It’s a huge melting pot, a thriving metropolis, it’s got everything, food from any country you can think of, as well as people. It’s totally international. We’ve had a democratic mayor for probably as long as most millennials have been alive, and for the last few years it’s been my home. It’s lush greenery and beautiful skyline surprise a lot of out of towners. People stop you on the street and ask how you are, and they genuinely mean it; Because that’s the kind of town Houston is.

Over the last few days we’ve seen flooding on the news, Hurricane Harvey has levelled entire cities in its wake, Port Arthur and Rockport have seen catastrophic damages. Houston and the surrounding suburbs are as large as the entire state of Connecticut and have twice the population. The damage there is unimaginable, we still don’t know how many people we’ve lost. This is probably the largest natural disaster that we’ve seen in our lifetimes and watching Houston come together over the last few days has been awe inspiring. Several thousands of people have lost their homes, most of the rescues have been done by citizens with privately owned boats. It’s not over yet. As more rain is forecast and more people flood as reservoirs go through perilous controlled releases on from our aging dams, this Space City is going to need help. Houston is tough, Houston is strong, but we definitely need help.”

— Koryn Coalson, Houston Resident

I wanted to donate to a relief fund but wasn't sure where to even begin finding legitimate ones. I've compiled a list of reputable charities, pulled from various articles, facebook posts from those in the storm, and suggestions from Koryn. I would love for this to be a live document, so if I have missed anything, please let me know and I'll add it.

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Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund: Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has established this Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund for victims that have been affected by the recent floods.

Hurrican Harvey LGBTQ+ Disaster Fund: Houston's Montrose Center - a prominent LGBTQ+ counseling and community center - is managing this campaign to aid LGBTQ+ community members that have been displaced by the storm. They are very close to their $250,000 fundraising goal. Let's help push them over!

Harvey - Money for the People: A live document listing additional fundraising groups compiled by Houstonian Selina Pishori. This list will be continuously updated moving forward.

Houston Food Bank: Through the Houston Food Bank site, you can donate money, donate food and supplies, and volunteer to help distribute to those who have been displaced. They've included a list of their most needed items.

Houston Food Not Bombs: Food Not Bombs provides vegetarian and vegan meals for those in need. They're a fantastic anti-violence organization that's been in business since 1994 with no government funding. They need volunteers to help prepare food and pick up donations.

Houston Furniture Bank: We currently don't have an accurate number on how many families have lost their homes and been displaced. Through Houston Furniture Bank, you can organize a furniture drive, donate whatever pieces you can spare, and donate to help these families get back on their feet.

Texas Diaper Bank: Through this page, you can donate money and supplies so that they can provide emergency diaper kits for displaced families.

South Texas Blood and Tissue Center: As of this moment, this blood drive center is full-up on donors (good job, guys!) but keep an eye on the site. They should be taking appointments again soon.

Houston SPCA: The Houston SPCA has set up an Animal Emergency Response hotline as well as a donation page. It also provides Disaster Preparation lists, detailing how to keep your animal pals safe. This facebook group, Austin Pets Alive!, is also collecting donations to aid rescue efforts for stranded companions.

Resource Guide for those in Houston: Another live document, this compilation of links includes (but is not limited to): accurate weather updates, evacuation information, emergency numbers, shelter information, road closures, accessible food, legal counsel, and resources for infants, disabled folks, and mental health needs.