Pick-me-ups During Covid19

One of the things I do to cheer myself up if I'm feeling down is I spend a free afternoon exploring downtown Toronto around the financial district area. By myself.

I like to hit up hipster stores, farmer markets, look at sales and buy fancy food like eclairs and drinks that I can't concoct at home.

Can't do that right now. How do I seek comfort when I can't be out and about and nothing is open anyway?

1. Open a fresh journal.

It's like blogging, but actually writing it out has a different feel to it. There's no backspace and I like the physical act of writing out my day and what's on my mind. It doesn't have to be everyday, but it could be everyday. Even a few minutes.

2. Bubble bath with glass of wine.

I like the bath bombs from Lush and I'll pair that with a glass of white.

3. Indulge in comfort food.

For me, this meant choco chip cookies that I made from scratch. It could be the warmth of something freshly baked, together with the sugar high.

I use bake mixes on lazy days but there's a certain therapeutic element to gathering ingredients, measuring them out, combining them separately before combining them together, then being amazed that I turned freaking flour and eggs into something that's semi-close to store-bought.

4. Marathon of The Office or Friends.

It doesn't get old and never fails to make me feel better. Personally though, I would skip the Scott's Tots episode from The Office and maybe fast forward through some of Ross' whinier moments from Friends.

5. Try a newly-released video game.

Valorant just launched and it's free-to-play. It's exciting downloading a game in its prime and updates to come. Even cooler if you get to play during beta of course.

6. Learn a new board game.

7. Phone up someone close while doing the same activity.

Instead of chilling in your friend's cool hammock at their garden party, replace it with sending photos of each other's yards via Whatsapp. You might get some inspo while hearing what humdrum things others are up to during the lockdown.