My Physical Distancing Fun List

Things have been heavy and hard the last few weeks. I’ve read the news of amazing small businesses closing permanently, heard of friends unable to visit their family members, and seen the reality of thousands of people suffering from the effects of COVID-19. Personally, I’ve cried more times than I can count!

Worry and heartbreak don’t sit well with me, so I’ve made it a point to stay informed as best as possible, but also make light of the current situation. Consider this a “bucket list” of sorts: activities, experiences, and things I’ll do during this time of self-quarantine. If you’re in a similar situation where you’re fortunate enough to support others while being comfortable at home, I hope this inspires you to create your own list of joyful things to do.

Before I dig in, let’s also address something: “social distancing” is just not a fun term. In the words of my friend Carrie Colbert (featured here on the blog before!) of CarrieColbert.com,

“When I hear ‘social distancing’, I think of isolation from our support systems. Now more than ever, I think we need social CLOSENESS…The point is this: it’s all about maintaining our physical well-being with physical distancing, while maintaining our emotional well-being with social closeness.” – @carriec

I couldn’t agree more. Alright, here’s the list of things I want to do while maintaining physical distance:

• Listen to 2 audiobooks about data science and social media marketing. (taking recs!)
• Learn all the things I can about creating case studies on People Maps. (I talk about it here in my FAQs!)
• Bake a batch of YouTube-famous Claire Saffitz‘s morning bun recipe from Bon Appetit.
• Interact with 5 new friends a day on Instagram.
• Dance to all the Melody DanceFit online workouts.
• Make GIPHY stickers.
• Burn through my Burlap Bag candle collection, a local Austin-based candle company. Their latest “Plant Lady” scent is one of my favorites!
• Clean out my car!
• Create a mood/inspiration board for future shoots.
• Organize an engineering girls wine night on Zoom.
• Order a milkshake from a local restaurant!
• Get to the Expert Level of Beat Saber.

I hope this inspires you to make your own list of things to do while maintaining your distance! Has anything about this time surprised you? Is there anything you’re planning to do during this time? I’d love to hear about it below in the comments!