There’s really only one thing on everyone’s mind right now, but the only thing we have been told we can do to help is stay home unless you are a healthcare professional. For the rest of us, it is almost sure to elicit a sense of powerlessness and loss. Human beings, after all, are social creatures who derive contentment – the longer lasting, deeper kind – from feeling valued. Two of our most significant emotional needs are not being met.
If you are one of a very select group of people, you can help shape the policy action to try to minimize Covid 19 infection rates and economic damage. Otherwise, we have to work within the rules that are set for us (i.e. avoiding others like this is The Purge). Still, we can do little things to make life better for other people. They’ll appreciate it and you won’t have to resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms to avoid falling into a pit of frustration and despair. While by no means a comprehensive list, I have a few ideas.
- Volunteer at a food pantry. Much of the volunteer staff at food pantries across the countries consists of retired people. Obviously, they are no longer able to do so because of the high vulnerability of the elderly to Covid 19. Meanwhile, with 10 million people claiming unemployment over the past 2 weeks, the need has never been greater.
- Adopt a grandparent! The elderly of our communities are particularly isolated and scared (with good reason). Even before the outbreak, many long-term care residents and other elderly people were lacking the personal contact they need. Now, they are intolerably alone. Many nursing homes have established new policies that allow people to contact their residents or “Adopt-a-Grandparent.” It’s not just your friends who need to talk. Give them a call!
- Learn a new language to become closer to that friend or family member who is just more comfortable in a different one. Duolingo is a free language-learning software that gamifies the whole process. Alternatively, if you want to make your own way into a crash course, this article gives you the tools to become conversational in record time.
- Foster an animal. Strays aren’t social distancing and springtime is when the stork brings all the new puppies and kittens. Animal shelters are not able to bring in the stream of volunteers and potential adopters as before, so the animals will need to be taken care of in a more distributed fashion. You can save the life of an animal and keep yourself busy at the same time.
- Create an instructional video. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has done a humorous one on staying home. Perhaps you have some sort of skill that you’d like to show off; I’d love to see what everyone is doing. Shoot me an email or a message on social media to share yours!