Five Things to do during the Pandemic
By Ailsa Stille
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is lots going on in the media. With the news being a non-stop feed of information, and social media being taken over by the pandemic as well, it’s hard to be able to give yourself a break.
It’s easy to feel disconnected from others and, quite possibly, yourself. While it's important to self-distance, it’s also difficult to be away from our loved ones. It’s eye-opening just how we take for granted the small things, like sitting down at a Starbucks in the morning with a cup of coffee or even chatting with our neighbour.
Although the situation is difficult, there are plenty of things to do to make the best out of it. This is an opportunity that you can invest the time you normally would for your usual activities on yourself.
- Perhaps you have a book on your shelf or an audiobook in your queue you haven’t had the chance to tap into. With so many things closed or running at a much lower capacity, now is a perfect time to catch up. Nook e-reader has a variety of accessibility features such as talkback, speak passwords, text to speech output, explore by touch, touch and hold delay, and extra-large text. Kobo, on the other hand, offers accessibility features such as text size adjustment, margin and line adjustment, font fact adjustment and adjusting the backlight. In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Audible has made hundreds of titles free for children and teens during school closures.
- Learn a new skill or discover a new hobby. Maybe you've always wanted to learn to bake, or you have an instrument collecting dust you can pick up. LinkedIn Learning has many different online courses, and there are hundreds of e-books on a variety of different subjects.
- Get some fresh air and exercise. Just because we are being told to social distance doesn’t mean you can’t go for a run or do a home workout. AMI-tv’s own Reflect and Renew with Kevin Naidoo offers an at-home yoga and meditation program. New episodes air Saturdays at 9 a.m., but it is available to stream on AMI.ca and the AMI-tv App.
- Use this as a chance to reconnect with yourself. I like spending time with my friends and family as much as everyone else, but it’s nice to take a day to sit back with yourself and do things for yourself.
- Redecorate a room that you feel may need some TLC. Maybe add a textured quilt to the sofa or get some fluffy pillows. Amazon is amazing at describing products. The Be My Eyes app is filled with volunteers ready and willing to help as well if you have any questions about the colour of an item or if it suits the space.