The Covid19 Diaries: Isolation Staycation?

I’m all Coronavirused out, so I’m fully not going to talk about it – other than to say it has been a weird, chaotic and uncertain last few weeks, has it not? I hope everybody is staying safe, well, and being nice to their flatmates/family/partners during this stressful time. Sparing a thought for all the grannies and grandpas, koro and kuia, immunocompromised and others who are at greater risk right now. Also, to all who are uncertain and stressed about compromised incomes: kia kaha, kia ora e te whānau whānui.

I am going to talk about:

• all the cool things popping up amid all the lockdown weirdness and hysteria
• how we can spend this time in self-isolation
• staying mentally healthy during this time

Honestly, I feel very privileged – my circumstances mean that I am not particularly worried or stressed financially, I have a roof over my head, a very cool flatmate to keep me company, educate me on Friends by binging from scratch, have bake-offs and flat dinners with, and existential breakdowns with as required ;). Tonight I’ll be cuddling up in my purple dressing gown, eating peach and pear crumble and watching The Bachelorette with my flatmate, so for now, I’m pretty much as de-stressed as humanly possible. Uni has been suspended until late April (at least), and I’ll be very casually working through my three assessments over the next few weeks.

Cool Things Popping Up

I went* to a Young Greens Crafternoon via Zoom, which was a pretty cute time. Essentially we just all brought our creative projects to do and video chatted together. I am kinda anticipating Zoom to be the cool hip new social media platform as we figure out what socialising looks like during physical distancing. I would be so keen to cultivate a little wee online community with pals near and far, and have plans to reach out to friends I haven’t caught up with for yonks via the ol’ Zoom. If you have any thoughts about what you might like to see, or how you’re going to stay socially connected during lockdown, feel free to leave a comment below! I would love to hear your thoughts.

*n.b. to you even ‘go’ to Zoom meet ups? If you don’t physically move to attend them? Unnecessarily perplexed as to which verb is appropriate here.

Some very cool local businesses deemed ‘essential services’ such as Berkano Foods and Laughing Pukeko will potentially still be taking orders woo! So imma support local and get fresh veges and easy vegan meals to go ❤

Edit: unfortunately Laughing Pukeko has had to close over this period

What Do we Do with Ourselves?

Now here lies a conundrum, what do we do with all this time we have on our hands? How do we stay sane? I’ll tell you what I plan on doing, in no particular order: sleeping in, practicing guitar and piano, singing, working through my te reo and philosophy assignments, watching films to practice French and Hindi, exercising, skyping the fam, listening to podcasts, writing more, reading more, baking, Zoom hang outs with friends, applying for Masters and teaching scholarships, binging Netflix, playing Stardew Valley for the first time and probably getting addicted, and whatever else takes my fancy. I want to try limit my social media use as much as possible so I don’t fall into the mindless scrolling and get sad and lonely. It makes sense to me to make a distinction between social media that is used in an actually meaningful and connective way – I don’t want to lose that of course – in contrast to the deceitfully ‘social’ media a.k.a. time-wasting, soul-sucking, potentially mental health-hurting likes of Facebook, YouTube and Instagram in particular. That said, I have time to waste, don’t I? I mean we all do. A Facebook friend of mine posed the idea that we all use the time to learn te reo Māori and I’m soooo behind that kaupapa. 😉

To those interested, here’s a cool wee list of online resources below:

• Toro Mai: Free Online Courses in Tikanga and Reo Māori (Massey University)
• Tōku Reo Video Series (Te Whanake)
• Te Kākano Video Series (Te Whanake)
• Te Kākano Podcast Series (Te Whanake)
• Starting in te reo Māori: YouTube Channel (Grant Whitbourne)
• Ngā Kete Kōrero: Beginner EBooks in te reo Māori (Kauwhata Reo)
• Private te reo Māori Zoom Lessons (paid): Group/1-on-1 options (Brenda Crooks)

What me time have you been neglecting that you can catch up on? Have a book you’ve been meaning to read? Always wanted to learn to knit? Bake? Write poetry? Bridges/Ardern fan-fiction? Now’s your chance, get some hobbies and shoot your shot ❤

Staying Mentally Well

I am working on creating some semblance of a routine; particularly for right now and the coming weeks I think that will help guard some sanity, as well as some ground rules for myself to protect my hauora hinengaro/mental health.

1. Get changed in the mornings! i.e. don’t stay in pyjamas all day. It will help me feel fresh, more productive, and more normal
2. Get outside at least once per day – even if it’s just the backyard. I’m hoping to still be able to go running every second day or so
3. Have regular catch ups with friends & fam via Skype, Zoom etc
4. Cook nourishing food and drink lots of water
5. Everything on this list, as collated by a very cool doctoral psychologist
6. Exercise! Get those endorphins guurrrrl x
7. Unplug from social media/get offline regularly

There we go, that’s my action plan. What’s yours?