The lockdown time has been a long-lasting one but a great one for creative exploration. It has offered time to indulge in almost everything that we kept postponing because those fancy ideas didn’t fit in our busy lives earlier. Today, we have so much more time to deal with the routine and still make room for new activities.
When the lockdown first started in March, the first few days (or I think weeks) went by dealing with emotional turmoil as nothing seemed familiar. Creativity in the initial phase of lockdown was not about finding bliss, it was an unintended distraction from the troubles in the world outside. All news on the radio, TV channels, conversations with family, WhatsApp messages with friends and even zoom calls were focused on the strangeness of the current time. Slowly, I have started to work around it, although it looks to be a long way to go find this new life as an accepted norm.
Now I feel the need for creative activities more than before! No, creativity during the lockdown hasn’t become an addiction (how I wish!) but a thoughtful indulgence. The days when I don’t spend a few minutes (at least) with any simple thing that involves imagination or creative thinking – it ends up being a gloomy day.
It hasn’t been easy finding the most creative hour during a day, so I’ve spent many days struggling to find a rhythm.
Not every day is the same and what I love the most is the no-rush attitude it has helped in developing. I have picked a variety of things to keep the creative hour more interesting, let me share that with you:
Reading
Do you enjoy reading? I find that reading opens our mind to new possibilities. It fills us with imagination. I love slipping into that world as often as I could. Some days I pick a book from the (recently cleaned) shelves to read. On other days, I read an e-book or listen to audiobooks on the BorrowBox App. Have you tried this app? As the city libraries weren’t open and the bookclub meetings came to a halt, instead of buying books online, I started enjoying this free app. All this app requires is the local library card to access the wide collection of e-book and audiobooks.
If you haven’t tried BorrowBox yet, I’m leaving a link here for you to check it out.
Baking and Cooking – Most popular activity during the lockdown
Like the whole world, I too went crazy cooking up a storm in the initial days of lockdown. But I had a longing appetite for familiar food instead of dishes out of new recipes, so I revisited childhood memories through nourishing food in my kitchen.
When I got married and was getting ready for a new beginning, my mom gifted me the most precious gift of a handwritten notebook of recipes from her kitchen. I treasure this notebook. It is my go-to for our comforting meals and for special occasions. Hence the pandemic offered me a chance to cook much more from this book and smile to the comfort of known things. And then slowly I was again ready to try out recipes from cookbooks and blogs.
Skillshare – A great tool to develop creativity
Many days when I don’t know what to do, I choose workshops or courses on Skillshare that I kept scanning through (before lockdown). Skillshare sessions are inspirational and a perfect guide to finding ways of enhancing creative thinking.
If you’re willing to try Skillshare, this is my referral link that will offer you 2 months of free subscription with access to all classes and workshops.
Crocheting – New hobby in the lockdown
Apart from all this, I am regularly engaging in organising things for the soon-to-be arriving little passenger and crocheting for the baby. After years of dodging the idea of learning crochet, I finally managed to try my hands on this craft. I have to tell you that it is one of the highlights of my pregnancy. Firstly, it is a complete pleasure and love to create small crafty pieces for my little human. Secondly, crochet is loaded with immense benefits that complement pregnancy.
I bought most of the crocheting equipment online, some from local shops and things that weren’t available locally, I bought them on Amazon. If you’re living in Ireland, try Winnie the Wool Wagon for yarns, otherwise, these are available on Amazon as well.
All in all, creative inspirations have brought brightness during this dark time.
