Did anyone ever imagine a day would come when our physical movements will be restricted? Well, I never thought of it. While the world has technologically advanced, we are stuck in our physical spaces due to a pandemic called Covid-19.
The best preventive measure was to control the transmission at the nascent stage for a country like India, which has such a huge population is through the indefinite lockdown. It is going to be more than a month now that we’ve been limited to the spaces of our house, flats, hostel, etc. It is frustrating, but one can look at the positive side of it too. Amidst this tough time, there are a lot of people who are putting their energy in a positive direction by reviving themselves, rediscovering their lost art, working on their body, or taking up new activities. One of the best things at this stage is the freedom of our minds.
So, here is the list of 5 leisure activities that I have penned down which you can also try in this lockdown period to keep yourself active and going:
Reading:
We read every day: newspapers, online articles, movie reviews, or something interesting on social media platforms.
This is the best time to turn into an avid reader. For those who believe “books are man’s best friend,” it’s time to live that phrase. It is time to make yourself a good cup of coffee (Dalgona maybe), sit by the window side, breathe fresh air, and evolve your brain. Read what fills your heart: old poetry, romantic novel, or just your course books – Nah, just kidding!!
Read what makes you happy, enrich yourself with the best of knowledge
Learn A New Activity
The most common saying that we usually hear is “I don’t have time, I am busy”. So during the lockdown, we cannot say I am busy anymore. Now, we all have enough time. There are no parties to attend, or restaurants to explore. Finally, you can dedicate this time to yourself, without any excuse. This is the period you can spend your time doing the activities you have always wanted to do like painting, baking, yoga, guitar lessons, or even arrange your album. Folks who have space like a garden or terrace: play cricket, badminton, get out your bike, and relive your childhood. Of course, you can choose Ludo and PubG too but it’s time to explore something new.
Spend Time With Family
For all these years, I’ve been away from my family for my education and career. Honestly, I have missed seeing my parents growing older. Some of us stay with our family and might not realize it. This period is good to focus on strengthening our bonds with our family. In the end, our family will always be by our side no matter what. Even though my father and I have ideological differences about politics, we cannot stand each other’s point on ‘For or Against Modi’, but now we talk and have learned to handle it without getting aggressive. It’s progress. We’ve also set a rule that on weekends, we make an effort to cook something special, play housie, or antakshari or cards games and keep our phone away. And dear friend, it works well.
Online Courses/Webinars
Well, this one is my favourite. I am sure many of you would’ve done online courses / or attended webinars even when there was no lockdown. Both of the activities are extremely good to be engaged with the outer world in this lockdown. One can explore any course from universities like MIT, Harvard, etc at a minimal cost. Learn from the experts along with the students across the continent. Plus it will add up to your CV too. You should also really try it out.
Meditation - Meditation: Last and the most empowering thing that I have explored in this lockdown is meditation. Recently, I came across this quote, “Read all the books you want but without reading self, life is not whole”. Somewhere down, I truly believe in it. Meditation and self-exploration are a journey and path too, that leads us to self-realization. I found my peace in it. It felt like healing, nurturing, and evolving. It takes some time but spending this time in meditation gives me immense power and energy.
These were my few points and I would love to hear what you folks are doing in the lockdown period.