My Ten: Things That Kept Me Afloat During The Pandemic

in Wellness
sunrise on the beach

Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for obtaining legal, financial or tax advice from a professional.

A friend of mine invited me to participate in a My Ten project, inspired by the NY Times series where celebrities, experts and other influencers from all walks of life share their list of ten things relating to a specific theme. In this case, we were all going to write about 10 things we did during the pandemic to keep us sane, and then my friend would collate all responses into an e-book in time for Thanksgiving.

Even though I already write a lot, I jumped into this because I figured my friend’s project was going to be amazing. (She’s a modern-day Renaissance genius – a financial marketing executive who also penned a non-fiction history book that sits in the UN library and recently won a prestigious creative writing fellowship in Sicily.)

Unfortunately, her My Ten project was aborted. However, I had already submitted My Ten, so here it is:

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As a consultant, I already worked from home and mostly on Zoom. So while my friends were going stir crazy or getting Zoomed out, to me it still felt like a regular day at the office. That said, everything but work didn’t feel regular at all. For example, I don’t normally read breaking news, but found myself visiting various news sites multiple times a day.

Luckily, that habit has somewhat dissipated (though still not as much as I would like), and I found other activities to absorb the time I wish I could have spent traveling, watching live shows or hanging out with friends and family:

1 – Social Zooms

My use of Zoom exploded but happily not because of work.

I wanted to check in on people during the pandemic, as it was a trying time all around, and since many people were home, it was easier to get in touch. The first few weeks were filled with lots of social Zoom calls, some of which continue even now – I have a standing weekly call with one of my college classmates from over 25 years ago!

2 – Fun movies

I have always loved movies, and I usually gravitate to horror or sci fi.

But there has been enough terror in real-life. No need to add Anaconda to my Netflix queue, when an actual 19-foot python is found right here in Florida, or to watch the latest sequel in the Tremors series of killer underground monsters, when an everyday guy falls into a pit of rats just walking down the street.

Instead, I opted for quirky, clearly fictional movies – my recent favorites include Hunt For The Wilder People and East Side Sushi.

3 – Walks on the beach

sunrise at beach with turtle tracks
Sunrise at the beach, with tracks from a sea turtle that laid eggs overnight

Where I live in Florida, there are enough beaches that you can easily socially distance, making walks on the beach my go-to activity, not just for the pandemic, but especially suited to the pandemic.

I have seen the sun rise and the moon rise over the water. I have seen dolphins, rainbows and every variation of cloud…

4 – Rocket (my favorite beach sighting)

dachshund dog walking on the beach

But my favorite beach sighting is Rocket, a poky dachshund who I see pretty regularly when I can get out to the beach in time for sunrise.

5 – Jazzercise

Yes, I do mean the dance exercise craze from the 1980’s.

There is a studio 10 minutes from my apartment, which means three times a week, I can party like it’s 1989. They do update the music, though, so my tango step, chasses, step-ball-change and other moves are done to BTS, Dua Lipa, etc.

6 – Afternoon naps

I wish I were just dancing and walking, and therefore losing some of the weight gain coming from increased intake of comfort foods. But, alas, another habit I have adopted is napping.

I never used to like naps because I found them to disrupt my night-time sleep. Now, my night-time sleep seems to be disrupted anyway, and I enjoy having a break in the middle of the day.

7 – Mindfulness resources

Two people sitting on sand and meditating

Another way I have found to relax is with various mindful resources.

I like the Abraham Hicks videos on YouTube (this one on Doing Nothing is particularly timely).

Deepak Chorpa’s new book, Total Meditation, was great.

I also enjoyed Spark Change: 108 Provocative Questions For Spiritual Evolution by yogi Jennie Lee and Sanjay Gupta’s Keep Sharp, his upcoming book on brain health.

8 – Finding rice substitutes

Like most other people, I have been cooking a lot. I don’t like following recipes, so I cook the same things over and over (Filipino comfort food mainly). But I have been experimenting with grains I can use as a side dish in lieu of white rice (which seems to cause me to gain weight just by looking at it).

So far, I have discovered that millet is a very close substitute to white rice, and quinoa goes surprisingly well with Filipino soups and stews. Bulgur, farro, barley, grits and buckwheat have also been added to the rotation.

I have been cooking so much with grains that I finally realized that buckwheat and kasha are not the same thing (kasha is roasted buckwheat – who knew?).

9 – Taking inventory

In the early days of stockpiling toilet paper and bleach, I also stockpiled canned goods and other non-perishables. I created an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of what I had, and I found that to be incredibly helpful.

I have since created spreadsheets to itemize the contents of various memento boxes, my costume jewelry, bags, scarves, even my unused journals (which made me realize I have enough to last for 10 more years).

I have run out of things to inventory, and my shopping is radically reduced so I will likely not have more to inventory anytime soon.

10 – Not doing things

Not doing things, like taking inventory, is actually a choice (theoretically I could have started taking inventory of my husband’s things). In the last few months, I have gotten much better at not doing things – reading less, posting less, working less. Sometimes I just sit on my favorite settee, and while I keep my journal close by, many times, I don’t write anything.

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What is Your Ten things that kept you sane during the pandemic?

two people sitting at table with dinner foodWe are Scott and Caroline, 50-somethings who spent the first 20+ years of our adult lives in New York City, working traditional careers and raising 2 kids. We left full-time work in our mid-40’s for location-independent, part-time consulting projects and real estate investing, in order to create a more flexible and travel-centric lifestyle. Read more about our journey.

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steveark November 9, 2020, 6:52 pm

1. Tennis, never missed a match. Even team tennis kept going. CDC announced early on that tennis was among the safest socially distanced activities. 2. Fishing, my wife and I slayed the big bass and you can’t get much more isolated than fishing on weekdays. We rarely had anyone within a quarter mile of us. 3. Off roading. We took our rig all the way to Colorado and to numerous Arkansas trail systems. All outdoors and naturally social distanced fun in the mud. 4. Hiking. We rarely saw another hiker on any of our hikes whether we were hiking at home or in Colorado. 5. Pickleball. Not as distanced as tennis but still pretty safe. 6. Volunteer work, ran board meetings via Zoom, no problem. 7. Blogging, now that’s a virus free activity! 8. Running. Three times a week we run in the wee early hours with a group of friends. We might be trailing virus particles behind us but we aren’t spreading them between us. 9. Football, finally after agonizing horrific years Arkansas Razorbacks are making some noise! 10. Cooking, thank you Blue Apron for some very tasty recipes my awesome spouse and I could craft together. Great post, you always inspire!

Caroline November 10, 2020, 8:31 am

LOVE these ten! I hadn’t heard of pickle ball till this year, but now I see it everywhere. It’s a good alternative to tennis for my older friends who don’t want so much pressure on the joints. It’s great that your list has so much physical activity — I know that I need to counter the comfort foods!

Chris@TTL November 15, 2020, 7:14 pm

Fun list 🙂

Tagging onto the social zooms—something we’ve really enjoyed (that we used to do in person before) is to play board games!

In our case, we have some friends that have the same physical copy of the deeper strategic games we like to play (euro board games).

We each just mirror the other players’ moves on our “local” game board and play over Zoom/FaceTime. It still feels a little more physical than something like a video game yet plenty social.

Caroline November 16, 2020, 7:32 pm

YES, board games! Your process reminds me of my oldest (a Millennial) when she was a teen and would play Connect Four online with her friend, even though the friend was physically in our house and we had a physical set of Connect Four! They were online side by side instead of playing the physical game! I guess they were anticipating the times:)

Impersonal Finances November 21, 2020, 2:59 pm

Definitely enjoying outdoor activities (tennis, golf, biking) more than I’ve ever had time for in the past. This is a great concept. There have been some positives to come out of a very negative year.

Caroline November 21, 2020, 9:31 pm

I’m glad you enjoyed the My Ten concept (it’s from the NY Times, not my idea). I did have a lot of fun writing My Ten and focusing on positive things. Maybe it can be an annual exercise!

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