How to Have a Full Life in Confined Spaces: Quarantine Ideas

Photo by Tim Mossholder

Today marks three weeks of being on lockdown. In this time, I have kept pretty busy. From the very first day, I found a purpose in continuing ministry in some capacity by making worship playlists with my friend, Lindsey, and sending those out to anyone interested. While it's such a small thing, those playlists, preparing for the online classes I'm still teaching, and keeping my household mostly clean and stocked, has kept me busy. At the end of last week, I started to ask myself why, for the most part, I wasn't letting myself rest. There were days where I was letting myself slow down and feel what I needed to feel. But, there hasn't been a whole lot of intentional seizing of these days in a way that looks very different from my normal life. So, I decided that this coming week, being Semana Santa, which is normally when the entire nation of Honduras is on holiday, I would treat it like a week of vacation within the safety of quarantine within my own home. These are strange times, and I think part of the reason why productivity has been my focus has been because it keeps me serious and somber. I've gone to bed a lot of nights wishing I would have gotten more done when I'm in a season where it really doesn't matter for the most part. Why is that?

One of the things that I'm observing and concluding is my own need to hold both grief and hope, both normalcy and this bizarre time in history we're living in. Can it be that the right response is simultaneously crying and being productive and informed and also resting, being creative, and enjoying what can be enjoyed in the midst of crisis? I think the fact that we can have a longing to do any number of things from these two camps speaks exactly to our humanity. We aren't one-dimensional creatures. We do need to grieve; this is a trauma that is happening worldwide. But the stages of grief aren't linear and can look wildly different from person to person. And, the truth of the matter is that this isn't over yet. We haven't emerged to the other side even as we have the faith that it is coming. So, what does it look like to live a full life in our confined spaces? Can it be equally important to not just intentionally worship and pray as with a mission but to also just hang out with the Lord as friends, be playful, and delight ourselves in Him even as we rest and let ourselves come up for air in welcome distractions or needed creativity?

A couple days ago, I read a question in Jeanie Miley's devotional Becoming Fire that got my wheels turning. She was talking about the woman Jesus healed in the synagogue who was hunched over due to an evil spirit. She imagines what it must have been like to not only be someone with a disability but to also be a woman in the time of Jesus and how that must have felt. Her question for her reader was this: "Is the feminine part of you beaten down and bowed under the weight of your masculine strengths?" I don't think I would have necessarily thought from that particular perspective without that question, but it did get me thinking about how my husband and I have responded differently in the midst of this crisis. His instinct has been a see-saw between keeping busy (though in helpful ways) and escapism through television or his cell phone. He has kept active in helping others, and there is no way we could be a blessing in tangible ways if it weren't for all of his hard work. But, in terms of feelings, his go-to has mostly been denial, yet they've still seeped out in unexpected ways like scary dreams. I tend to be a pre-griever. Thus, I have tried to keep myself attuned to what is going on inside of me and letting myself cry and process as needed because I know that if I try to ignore everything and go on with life as normal, it will come to an ugly head and come out in unhealthy ways. I have also been much more cautious and protective than my husband. Our ways of coping and what we feel like we can control are very different.

But, even just within myself, I recognize a bit that difference between the softer, sensitive, creative, and nurturing side and the get-down-to-business, practical, productive side. I don't know that I would assign genders to those things necessarily. But, as I was feeling the need to take a breather during this Holy Week to truly let myself just be, I felt confirmed in something else I read. This time it was in Janice Elsheimer's book, The Creative Call, about nurturing our creative selves. She writes:
"He [God] wants to make us co[-]creators with him, but he can't do so unless we believe that doing the work of becoming an artist is important, so important that sometimes other things may not get done. Satan, the master of deception, tries to convince us that taking time to be an artist is selfish and even sinful. He will sometimes use our sensitivity to the needs of others to steal our artist time. He will do anything he can to prevent that sweet communion with our Creator. Don't listen to him. Doing artist work, when we let the Spirit lead, is doing God's work." 

I don't think that it's any accident that in our time of need many of us have turned to various artistic or creative mediums for refuge. Music, art, stories through books or television are all things that drive our culture in the same way or more so than politics. The realms of creativity don't necessarily provide a lot of concrete answers to our questions, but they allow us to express our emotions as they come or to connect with the emotions of characters feeling what we need to feel. And creativity is also another way that we connect with God. It lets us be with Him without demanding answers from Him. Surprisingly enough, when I have allowed myself to just be with God, I have found answers in unexpected places when I wasn't looking for them.

None of these ways of processing are good or bad or better or worse than the other. There is truly a time for each one. It's okay to feel like you have a mission and need a purpose and to be diligent in completing it. It is also okay to let yourself be and to seek out ways to be happy and creative without much of an agenda in this unexpected time of being still. He is there in it all.

So, in that spirit of being intentional in enjoying next week as much as I can despite the circumstances (not as an irreverent, insensitive stance to the suffering of others but rather a celebration of the resilience of humanity and the story that does still have hope), here is a list of some of the things I thought that could be done in this time of quarantine. I love a good list. This is probably common knowledge at this point. I likely won't do all of the things on this list, but I am going to try a few this coming week and do my best to check in and let you know how they went.

Quarantine Activity Ideas:


Photo by Nadya Spetnitskay

1) Millennial stress baking (I have already fallen into this. So far, I have baked an impromptu cake to drop off to a neighbor on his birthday, and I have a sourdough bread starter that I'm babysitting...I've never made sourdough bread before.)

2) Coloring (I have done a little bit of this in honor of my aunt who got me started on this pastime last summer.)

3) Play Ultimate Werewolf online (I have mentioned this game before. My family and I had a blast playing it a lot over the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays. I found a website online where it's possible to play as a group, but we haven't tested it out yet.)

4) Be of service (This could be different for everyone. Each community is different. But, try to think of those in need and how you could meet that need. It could be a simple phone call to check in on someone who lives alone. For us right now, that has looked like making up some provisions to be distributed.)

5) Binge watching a show (The current show on my radar is Community.)

6) Jimmy Kimmel Formal Friday (I haven't done this yet, but Jimmy Kimmel's wife suggested that every Friday everyone in quarantine get dressed up to have dinner or just hang out. They have been sharing pictures of families that have been participating.)

7) Deep clean (Given all the germ panic, this is a kind of an instinctual go-to.)

8) Reading (The book I'm currently letting myself get really into is Annie F. Downs' Remember God.)

9) Virtual tours of museums or nature (I haven't done this one either. But I've seen that there are lots of options for this online.


Photo by Insa Osterhagen

10) Watch the Shedd Aquarium penguins roam around the empty aquarium. (This I have done and have shown Raúl because we went to the Shedd Aquarium over the summer. It's unique to see penguins walking around places that were very crowded when we were there.)

11) Listen to podcasts (This is something I do in normal life, but if you want something soothing, I listen to Emily P. Freeman's The Next Right Thing. If you want something funny and sassy, I listen to the Popcast with Knox and Jamie. If you want something with fun interviews, a PG option is Annie F. Downs' That Sounds Fun or the R rated Armchair Expert from Dax Shephard.)

12) Exercise (I haven't done this almost at all; it's been disgustingly hot here...it's on the list for next week.)

13) Blanket fort (My brother has already made one, and it made me jealous.)

14) Do a puzzle (So we started to do this one, and I think decided we hated the picture and boxed it back up.)

15) Self-care day (I already gave myself a haircut, but I've been cutting my own hair for a while. We'll see what else I get into next week.)

16) Computer stuff like backing up your computer or clearing out your emails (This needs done. Whether or not it happens remains to be seen.)

17) Connect with long lost friends (This has already started for me, but I plan to continue next week. In the age of social media, I think we often root for people we care about from afar. But due to the state of the world, there is no harm in risking an actual message or call to see how everyone is actually doing.)

18) Talk to your pets (I have always done this. My dog, Rocky, is the best. He quarantines like a boss every day of his life.)

19) Wash makeup brushes (Because again, germs and self-care and whatnot.)

20) Journal (Some day, your kids or grandkids are going to learn about this time in history, and they're going to wonder what your personal experience was like. As boring as it may seem, as cliche as your feelings may feel, write it down.)

21) Change your sheets (Does anyone else let this chore slide for too long?

22) Create a donate pile of books, clothes, and other odds and ends (I try to do this from time to time anyway, but getting rid of clutter helps give a sense of control which is pretty elusive right now.)


Photo by Jack Hamilton

23) Play cards (Raúl beats me at anything we play.)

24) Make a collage (I haven't done this in a long time...)

25) Make something with your hands (What is your medium of choice?)

26) Try a new recipe (This has happened in the last couple days, and it was well worth it!)

28) Wash your curtains (Another chore that often gets shirked.)

29) Get some vitamin D outside however that looks for you without endangering yourself or others. (Ants and aphids are eating my little baby flower garden to bits, but I get some vitamin D surveying the devastation.)


Photo by Tracey Hocking

30) Take a nap (as if it were a Sunday afternoon...like today!)

31) Sing (or if you're my husband dance...he's good at one; I'm good at the other.)

32) Drink your favorite beverage (and stay hydrated in general) (This may require some creativity due to lack of ingredients.)

33) Fast and pray (like I said, having a mission isn't bad)

34) Organize your filing cabinet (There is a reason this keeps getting pushed to the end of my to-do list.)

35) Watch something funny (Late night shows like Jimmy Fallon's continue on YouTube; I am a fan of bloopers, funny animals, and funny kids. Laughter is medicine.)

36) Talk it out with someone (I have some great listeners in my life.)

37) Look at old photos (Raúl was asking for our albums the other night.)

38) Read the Psalms. (If anyone got the roller coaster of emotions we're feeling, it was David.)

39) Start a virtual book club or Bible study. (I haven't done this, but I also haven't needed to since my ladies' Bible study has started meeting virtually.)

40) Take an online course (There are tons out there.)

41) Start composting (I half-heartedly compost. I don't turn up the soil at all, but my neighbor's free-range chickens do.)

42) Make recommendation lists for people who are interested (As we know, I love a good list. I also love recommendations.)

43) Start a blog (like this one!)

44) Learn a foreign language (Duolingo Portuguese is calling my name again.)

45) Make a time capsule (because posterity)

46) Learn a life skill you should know but don’t (I just learned the correct way to cut onions and also how to macerate them...fancy word for pickle, let's be honest.)

47) Camp in your living room (My dad did this for us once when we were kids. Mom was out of town, and he set up a tent in our living room. Super cool. Great memory.)

48) Create a treasure hunt for someone (My dad used to do this at Christmas. There's no reason it couldn't be done for a non-special occasion.)

49) Play Chopped with the ingredients you have in your home (I am a sucker for cooking shows. We actually did this once in a high school Spanish class. We collaborated with a cooking class and used a spinner to determine what ingredients we had to work with. Really fun and creative.)

50) Be a good listener. (Ask good questions like "How are you feeling?" and really listen.)

If you have cool things that you have done or learned in this time, I'd love to hear about them in the comments or in an e-mail at sarah.crickenberger@gmail.com