I Stay Home

The universe puts us to the test, once again setting in motion its law of homeostasis. In a society in constant movement, the universe has told us to stay home, doing nothing, to see what comes out of all this.

What a great opportunity for families to be together with nothing to do, without the Saturday football match or the chess competition or whatever it is our children do. Without a calçotada with friends, without that stress that takes hold of us even at the weekend because we can't make it on time to the match or the lunch or the cinema.

What a great opportunity to reflect, to see how people act in the face of a crisis, to watch ourselves manage all of this.

What a great opportunity to unite as a whole against a common enemy.

What a great opportunity to value once again, as it deserves, the work of all the healthcare workers who dedicate their lives to caring for others.

Today is my first day at home and I feel strangely excited; for the first time in my life I have a lot of time ahead of me without any plan, without going to work, without going to the gym, to English class, or to pick up my children from the 1000 extracurricular activities. Real time to be with my loved ones and to do what I have never done, simply to be with no plan at all. Strange, it's very strange.

And what are you going to do?

It is important to set up a routine, a new way of doing things. Getting up early, having breakfast, and making the most of the morning to do activities (avoiding watching TV, playing video games, or lying around scrolling through social media). In the morning it's better to do more active things: some physical exercise, household chores, homework with the kids, etc… and leave the more sedentary activities for the afternoon. Plan meals well; if we are going to burn fewer calories we should eat less caloric foods and smaller amounts. We can take advantage of the time to cook calmly and with the help of the little ones.

Here are a few ideas to fill this new routine:

Cleaning out closets and all the pending tasks around the house

I'm surely not the only one who is going to start here, with the pending tasks. Closets we've wanted to tidy up for months, that dripping faucet I always say I'll fix tomorrow… It can be a good plan, to get the house ready for when life returns to its frenetic pace and to cross the pending tasks off the list. But we must not forget that we can do much more than that, we can go further.

Spending time with my loved ones

Think about it, you've surely never had an opportunity like this to truly be with your loved ones, with nothing to do. To be able to decide together what we do, how we organize the days, what tasks we do together. I find what this can mean impressive, to truly know how we function as a family, how we relate to one another and what we do in the face of a crisis.

Maybe, if we can be with our children without the daily stress, we'll be able to enjoy them, or maybe we won't be able to adapt to the standstill and our home will become an environment full of shouting and tension. That will also tell us something about all of us.

Either way, this puts us to the test as individuals and as a group. Don't get through these 15 days without observing all of this. Opportunities like this don't come along every day: being able to stop, observe, analyze, and maybe change what we don't like about what we see.

Watching series

We're surely going to dedicate a lot of time to this. But don't forget that it's just one more way of escaping reality and even, sometimes, depending on the series, of wasting time. Choose well what you spend your time on, it's your most precious asset. If you see, as I do, that all of this is a great opportunity, don't waste this time the universe has just given us.

Resting

Sleeping, lying down, relaxing, and resting. Noticing how my body and my mind respond to this standstill. I surely needed something like this. Take advantage and recharge your batteries.

Meditating

There are no more excuses, the time has come to get into the habit of meditating. Until now you told yourself you didn't have time to do it. Now, what excuse will you use?

You can start with any meditation you find on YouTube, preferably guided, until you get the habit and are able to do it without any aid, just by closing your eyes and breathing.

Exercising at home

We can't forget about our body. It also needs movement. Learning to exercise at home will make us feel much better. The endorphins it generates will help us feel more upbeat and see the situation in a more positive way. Don't let your body suffer from inactivity, the body is made to be in movement.

Reading

Although I do this every day, I don't always dedicate enough time to it. I have a couple of books waiting to be read and it's going to be great to have so much time to do it. Take advantage to read that book you always say you'll read. Now you can give yourself that luxury

Social media

I'm sure they are going to be the star of this crisis. A new way of relating to one another that is now going to help us a lot during this isolation: WhatsApp groups, Instagram, etc…

They'll keep us from feeling alone, they'll let us relate from a distance. But be careful, they can also consume more of our time than necessary.

Cooking

Many of us are going to have the kids at home at midday and at night. We're not used to having so many meals a day for so many days without even being able to go out for dinner one day. We'll have to cook no matter what. We can take advantage to experiment with new recipes, to try to eat better, and to have our children help us in the kitchen. Now we really do have time to do it!

Conclusions

Of one thing I am sure: every crisis is an opportunity for growth. Maybe we'll learn to live more slowly and to value the time we have more without always filling it with things to do, as if we were afraid of having time and having it empty, as if we were afraid of stopping and thinking, lest we see something we don't like. Well, now they've forced us to do it and I'm eager to see what comes out of all this.

In a society full of movement and a thousand things to do, one that isn't used to having time, time to think, time to truly be with your loved ones, time to meditate, time for yourself. What a paradox, right? A virus that has forced us to do what we haven't been able to do for ourselves.

When I look, I only see opportunities; I feel that it's a great moment for us to reflect on how we spend our time.

I'm clear about it: I don't intend to let this situation pass by, I'm going to learn from it everything it has come to teach.

And you? What do you plan to do with this opportunity?