In a classic Twilight Zone episode called “All the Time in the World” Burgess Meredith plays a man who wants to do nothing but read. One day he takes his book into the vault of the bank where he works. He hears a loud explosion. When he emerges the people are gone and the town is destroyed. Oddly enough all the library books and canned goods survive (it was the Twilight Zone, after all…). At long last he has all the time in the world. He organizes stacks of books to read through the coming days, months and years. Life will be grand. Then he steps on his only pair of glasses.
Our takeaways from that episode – always have a spare pair, and maybe consider a backup pastime.
Here are some ideas of things we can do if we’re sheltering in place, or even after we emerge from our vaults…
- Listen to an entire record album in one sitting – remember when we used to put on a record and just listen, and have time to think about the lyrics and meaning?
- Color in an adult coloring book – you can find them on amazon, and if local stores are out of colored pencils you can get them from the artist supply websites below
- Paint – you can take a basic painting class online. Or just get some paper and start painting. You can find great artist supplies at websites like wusww.dickblick.com or www.artistcraftsman.com
- Learn origami online at www.skillshare.com/browse/origami (skillshare.com also teachers other kinds of art/crafts classes)
- Take an online course – in poetry, history, art, literature, food and wine, philosophy, religion, writing and more. There are lots of websites that offer online learning. Here are a few: www.thegreatcoursesplus.com | www.udemy.com | www.coursera.org
- You can take free exercise and yoga classes on YouTube www.youtube.com. Just enter the type of exercise or activity you’re looking for and YouTube and you’ll see a wide variety of choices.
- Start planning what you’ll have in your garden, whether it’s a window box or acres. You can start weeding and cutting dead wood and spent flowers about now too.
We’re reporting and writing posts – so much fun! And learning what happens behind the curtain in blogging – not so much fun.
What are you doing to stay active?