Here at the Juggle, we try to take things lightly when we can. Life can be hard, and we appreciate some lightness and humor. But the novel coronavirus pandemic — and the resulting stress and self-isolation that could continue for months — have ushered in a truly difficult and scary time for many people.
If, like us, you’ve found yourself up way too late reading the news and struggling to manage peaks of stress throughout the day, it’s a relief to find something that can calm you down and distract you.
So if you need something calm, positive and distracting, we’d like to help. Here are a few things we love.
- Need a book, essay or podcast recommendation? Here you go.
- Ready to dip your toes into meditation? Rock on.
- Want to take advantage of extra time at home to beef up your resume? Great idea.
- Craving some exercise? Check out 30 days of Yoga With Adriene. Or as Maggie Lange of The Cut recommends, to not to go stir-crazy: “Your New Hobby Is Pushups.”
- Cute animal alert: Penguins take a tour of the aquarium.
- For more uplift, follow the wise advice passed along by Mr. Rogers: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”
- Desperate for a quick laugh? Read author Anbara Salam’s brave and hilarious tweet thread about her most embarrassing moment of all time:
As a public service in these stressful times I’d like to offer, as a palate cleanser, the most embarrassing moment of my life.
10ish years ago, my ex bf and I visited a spa in Germany. It’s swimsuits in the pool but you have to be naked in the sauna.
Btw I speak no German. 1/
— Anbara Salam (@anbara_salam) March 16, 2020
Sharing joy
And if you haven’t joined already, we’d love to have you in our “Joy” Slack channel. All we do is post about things that brought us joy today. Like coffee. And conversations with friends. And french fries. Does your cat have a new hilarious trick? Tell us (or show us!) about it in the Joy Slack. Did you binge a fabulous new TV show? PLEASE tell us about it in the Joy Slack. PLEASE.
In hopes that these bring you a few moments of respite, here are a few of our favorite “joy shares” aka posts people have shared about their daily joys in recent months. And please feel free to share something joyful in the comments or (better yet) in the Slack channel. All are welcome.
“My 4yo daughter whispering to me that I’m the best mom in the whole world.” — J.
“Getting 9 hours of sleep! Glorious!” — S.
“Breaking my rule of not drinking during the week and finishing a bottle of wine with my hubby on a school night” —A
“Dancing and jumping around with reckless abandon to very bass-forward electronic music. —A
“A shower with good acoustics.” — G
A lot of people are feeling isolated right now. Consider sharing this with a friend who might need a joyful connection. Stay safe out there (or rather, in there). 💜
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On Mr. Rogers’ mom’s advice to look for the helpers, some encouraging news from the private sector (even companies I usually think of as, shall we say, less morally sound): Amazon is hiring 100,000 displaced restaurant workers and raising wages for all workers by $2/hr for the next month to help people get through this. Also Facebook has committed to giving $100 million in cash grants and ad credits to up to 30,000 small businesses in 30 countries (average of $3,333/company). Ad credits may not exactly keep people employed, but still, it’s a positive step.