Finding Joy While Staying Home. This post may contain affiliate links. To read more about things to do at home go HERE.
Its Thursday, and I didn’t know it until I asked my husband. Because we are currently in a “Shelter In Place” order here in Michigan and the days are running together, for me its become one endless weekend and my days are marked around what time my son eats and naps and goes down for bed. This stay home thing is getting long, and I find myself missing little things and thinking about the weeks before we began social distancing with this romanticized glow. The weeks in the sun down in Florida, where we played and I was able to recharge as a new mom with extra help from my own mom. Days of going out to eat, walking through town, and floating in the pool with sun across my shoulders. All of that, every bit of it is gone. Over. They are calling this a war, our healthcare workers are on the frontline. Telling us that the best way we can help is to stay at home, out of harms way. So thats what we have been doing, and for me this invisible threat COVID-19 still doesn’t quite seem real. Which I think makes all of this feel less than real, all we can do as a society is take it day by day and for me time is marked by the meals and by the naps.
With all of that happening in the world, and for our lives to have shrunk to fit the size of our home I have been searching for ways to find joy around me. My creative heart needs it, and I have been letting myself go looking for it. These things can be what you want them to be, a distraction, a way to renew your space or freshen your physical appearance and inner creativity. Take what you want from it. In todays post I am sharing ten things I am doing to keep my spirits up.
- Wearing My Favorite Clothes – For the first ten days of our quarantine I pretty much wore PJs, and then a switch flipped and I wanted to get dressed. Even if its leggings and a nice sweater, I am still changing out of the clothes I am sleeping in and into “nicer” things for the daytime.
- Burning Candles That Smell Amazing – I get so much joy out of a simple candle. And my favorite scent is the Capri Blue Volcano for Anthropologie. I have a couple of small candles here at the house and I have been enjoying burning them for an hour everyday.
- Redecorating With Things I Already Own – This one is so simple and I can not believe its taken me this long to get to it. I have been moving plants, and wall decor around the house to give things a fresh new look.
- Eating Well – During this time I have been working really hard to lay off the self shaming over food. We are cooking more, and enjoying the fruits of our efforts. Im not sorry about it and quite honestly I refuse to be.
- Watching All The Shows I Want – This is another one that I have no shame over. I love TV and have been watching shows across all the streaming platforms. From Disney+ to AppleTV I have been taking in my fair share of TV content.
- Wearing Makeup When It Suits Me – Some days I am all in on a face of makeup and others I skip the foundation and just moisturize. Either way, I am trying to be OK with it. I have enjoyed a break from applying makeup and have found that when I do wear it, I enjoy and appreciate it more.
- Engaging On Social Media Accounts That I Enjoy – I have always been a big advocate for only following accounts that bring me joy, and during this time I have been keeping up with accounts that are putting out interesting content.
- Pinning Things On Pinterest – I have used Pinterest as a source of inspiration for years, and during this time at home I have been looking at projects I want to do around the house, recipes, outfits that would be fun to style and first birthday ideas for my little man.
- Window Shopping On LikeTOKNOWit – I love the LikeTOKNOWit App for window-shopping, I use the search tool to look at handbags I admire, types of clothing I am looking at as well as style inspiration from other creatives.
- Cleaning As A Distraction – Before all of this virus mess started up, I had set a goal of having a consistently clean home in 2020. Now with our shelter in place order, I have had the time to “get lost” in cleaning. Every week I set out to do one bigger cleaning task and work each day to complete it. Listening to a podcast, is a great way to delve even deeper into a cleaning or organizing project.
Liz Locke says
❤❤❤
Amy Christensen says
Great ideas on how you are surviving these, stay at home days. I try to shower and dress every day, even wearing jewelry and accessories. I do make up most days, but not always. Blogging, writing, hanging out with my hubby and my grandson, still keep my days full. I just miss being able to go thrifting or to a coffee shop or out to eat. Thanks for sharing. – Amy