6 Daily Steps to Be Happy (during COVID-19)
As a super-extrovert, isolation has always been basically my nightmare. However, I am also very motivated by anything that is the community focused. Thus, this order to stay home is probably the best possible isolation situation for me. My ADHD brain does best when I have a daily checklist, in an effort to make it through. If I don't I could easily just waste this time consuming media.
Click through to read the story of the funny realization I had as I was creating this list.
How to participate:
Just join in! Try to check off each step at some point in your day.
Feel free to post online about your activities & tag me (@X37Adventures). It brings a smile to my face to see what you are doing with this, but it certainly isn't intended for "improved engagement" or anything else businessy. It is about our mental health, not likes or followers.
Did you forget until bedtime? That's okay! Look back on your day to see what in your day qualified for each step.
Got a journal or even just a pad of paper? Write it down. Document this in any manner that works for you. In the future, we can look back at this & remember a pandemic in a more positive light. There is also a lot of talk about "we are a part of history, write it down." The smart alec in me says, "We are ALWAYS part of history, that is exactly what the past is." The part of me that is a lover of local, personal stories, is intrigued to see what eventually comes out of this.
Feel free to keep this as a personal activity. But if you want to involve your family or friends, go for it!
Ok. Let's get this! The possibilities are endless in all of these steps. Here is just a little tiny list of things to get your mind going. I will try to at least make an Instagram/Facebook post regularly with the steps I take each day.
Find Beauty
Simply identify something beautiful in your world, and take the time to enjoy it. Soak it in!
Around the living space - rearrange your furniture or artwork in a more pleasing manner, cook an awesome meal, paint your nails, do your makeup, wear something beautiful, dance to your favorite jam!
Create art - Draw/sketch/paint a still life of something in your home, make origami (you can even use scrap paper), make a hat out of something, practice your photography. Fun idea: The background of the list graphic is a cell phone photograph that I took at Elsewhere Museum. One of their resident artists created an interactive project where it asked me to hold up a little transparent plastic gem in front of the lens & shot toward a window.
Take a virtual tour of someplace beautiful - sooooo many places have new virtual tours! Go! Enjoy exploring the beauty!
Show Kindness to Others - Find a way to brighten someone else's day.
Take a moment to ask the cashier at the grocery store how their day is going.
Participate or instagate a group uplifting experience - "Going for a Bear Hunt," 6pm/6 feet Away Meet & Greet, Drive by Honking,
Send a snail mail card to a friend or family member. It doesn't have to be fancy (or you can,
Challenge Yourself - Little or big, it doesn't matter, just take on at least one thing that is challenge your mind or body every day.
Use your non-dominant hand for something like drawing or eating or writing
Do as many push ups as you can without stopping. Then, the next day try to beat that number.
Make plans to build/sew/move something. Basically, I am saying that math can be fun! Challenge your brain with some applied mathmatics!
Do a logic problem.
Complete a Project - Set a goal, even if it is miniscule, then achieve it! Make sure to celebrate your accomplishment!
Do Something Healthy - Healthy choices don't have to cost money or require a gym membership. Think about the multiple dimensions of health - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual.
Eat something healthy
Call a friend just to chat - make sure to include non-pandemic topics in your conversation!
Write in a journal
Pray, meditate, create spiritual art
Check on an Essential Worker - I hope I don't have to explain why I included this on this list. They are our heroes! Reach out to either a specific individual or even a group that is in a position for serving our communities for unending hours. Call, text, do something nice specificially for them.
There you go. You have a starting place. Let's come out of this pandemic with healthy minds, so that we can help our world heal after our collective trauma.
