Please enjoy the following guest post by Jennifer Scott of SpiritFinder.org on creatively adapting to the pandemic.
Jennifer Scott is a single mom who writes about the ups and downs of her mental illness on SpiritFinder.org. The blog serves as both a source of information for people with mental illness and a forum where those living with anxiety and depression can come together to discuss their experiences. Based in Philadelphia, she enjoys traveling, working with animals, and seeking out new friendships and adventures.
If there was ever a time the world needed to embrace creativity, the pandemic certainly brought it on. And it’s happening—in a wide variety of ways. Love After Kids knows all this adjustment can be tough, but as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Read on as we explore some of the lifestyle changes COVID-19 triggered, and some of the interesting ways we are reinventing ourselves in order to handle this new normal.
Jennifer Scott is a single mom who writes about the ups and downs of her mental illness on SpiritFinder.org. The blog serves as both a source of information for people with mental illness and a forum where those living with anxiety and depression can come together to discuss their experiences. Based in Philadelphia, she enjoys traveling, working with animals, and seeking out new friendships and adventures.
If there was ever a time the world needed to embrace creativity, the pandemic certainly brought it on. And it’s happening—in a wide variety of ways. Love After Kids knows all this adjustment can be tough, but as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. Read on as we explore some of the lifestyle changes COVID-19 triggered, and some of the interesting ways we are reinventing ourselves in order to handle this new normal.
Get your om on
Change is hard. It challenges us and stresses us, even when those changes are happy ones. So when life turned upside down and schools closed, work moved to home, and even grocery shopping became an ordeal, stress levels started skyrocketing.
In an effort to boost relaxation and reduce stress, we started downloading meditation apps like Reflectively, Calm, and InsightTimer. People are finding that a little time for quiet, focus, prayer, and regrouping really makes a difference—especially during trying times.
In an effort to boost relaxation and reduce stress, we started downloading meditation apps like Reflectively, Calm, and InsightTimer. People are finding that a little time for quiet, focus, prayer, and regrouping really makes a difference—especially during trying times.
Keeping up connections
Since all but essential workers were sent to their homes during lockdown, our reliance on electronics suddenly became particularly critical. Churches exchanged in-house services for online worship, business negotiations and meetings moved to virtual venues, schools moved to lessons and lecturing via the web, and even our social lives headed to the cloud with virtual happy hours. While things have reopened, we’re still embracing those options as part of our new normal so everyone can stay healthy.
Improving career prospects
As many workers have lost their jobs or been relegated to working from home, some have looked to improve their skills (and prospects) by earning online degrees. Whether you’re interested in an IT, nursing, business, or accounting degree, there are online educational options available that will allow you to complete your degree at your own pace, which means you can graduate faster than if you attended a traditional university.
Virtual Real-ity estate
How we do business changed dramatically, but the real estate market in particular was pushed forward and is relying on new tools and practices in order to survive. Software and gadgets are filling in where agents and homeowners can’t. There are virtual open houses, virtual showings, and 3D tours, all just a click away, and closings can even be performed in a drive-up manner to protect the health of those involved. As a result, this creative thinking is saving an entire industry.
Sprucing up
Since attractions shut down and events were cancelled, everyone started falling back in love with their homes. Hand in hand with spending more time at our humble abodes, DIY projects now fill our off-time, doing everything from kitchen upgrades to applying fresh coats of paint. In response, home improvement centers and local hardware stores offer things like curbside pickup and even home delivery.
Digging in
In recent months, people the world over decided one of their healthy coping mechanisms would be picking up gardening. Growing food, perennials, you name it—with people spending more time at home, Reuters reports the demand for plants and products from garden centers hit unprecedented levels this spring. It’s a healthy and happy way for people to offset their groceries, boost their home value, and just get in closer touch with creation.
Sheltering with shelter animals
Speaking of creation, plants and soil aren’t the only non-human connections we’re making. A shelter-in-place order came out, Americans hunkered down, and then, they got lonely. People decided to open their hearts and lives to homeless animals, and across the country, rescues and shelters found fosters and adopters at extraordinary rates. Primarily operating via by-appointment-only arrangements, cages have emptied and hearts and homes are now filled with furry companion animals.
There is a silver lining in all the changes we’re seeing courtesy of COVID-19. New pets, new haircuts, and new gardens are just a few of the blessings the pandemic sent our way. People are looking for creative solutions to this situation, and revisiting their priorities in life.
Licensed psychologist David Younger offers his book, Relationship Reboot, to help you stay connected with your significant other. You can also explore more great content like this on his website, Love After Kids, for additional tips and helpful resources like some couples therapy exercises.
There is a silver lining in all the changes we’re seeing courtesy of COVID-19. New pets, new haircuts, and new gardens are just a few of the blessings the pandemic sent our way. People are looking for creative solutions to this situation, and revisiting their priorities in life.
Licensed psychologist David Younger offers his book, Relationship Reboot, to help you stay connected with your significant other. You can also explore more great content like this on his website, Love After Kids, for additional tips and helpful resources like some couples therapy exercises.
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If you haven’t already read the book, it’s a great place to start - Relationship Reboot: Break free from the bad habits in your relationship.
David B. Younger, Ph.D. is the creator of Love After Kids, for couples that have grown apart since having children. He is a clinical psychologist and couples therapist with a web-based private practice and lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, 16-year-old son, 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old toy poodle.
If you haven’t already read the book, it’s a great place to start - Relationship Reboot: Break free from the bad habits in your relationship.
David B. Younger, Ph.D. is the creator of Love After Kids, for couples that have grown apart since having children. He is a clinical psychologist and couples therapist with a web-based private practice and lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, 16-year-old son, 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old toy poodle.
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