There is nothing better than being deeply absorbed in an activity.
Whether it’s in an athletic pursuit, an intense conversation, or repairing something, the rest of the world drops away. You have only the moment and the task at hand.
If my plane is delayed for an hour or two, no problem. It’s okay — I have my knitting. Empires could crumble, and I’d just keep stitching contentedly, glancing up now and then to check on things.
Read MoreI have at least two complete drum sets in the basement of a house that I haven’t been able to set foot into in more than four months.
I miss playing drums. I miss playing music with other people in the first place. I don’t foresee a time or location in the near future when I’ll be able to play those drums. Maybe I can play others. But I don’t know. You can’t have drums in an apartment, right? So when we sell the house that the drums are in, do we sell them because we’ll never be able to play them again? Or do we put them in storage for someday?
Read MoreA friend’s five-year-old has taken to calling the time of coronavirus “The Season.”
She doesn’t like The Season: No school, porch visits only, masks and physical distance. Right there with ya, kid.
It’s important to me to have a sense of ease in my work — but discomfort is also a key element of growth. The harmony between these two states is what keeps us learning effectively. We want to see juuuuust the right amount of discomfort melting into ease again and again, little by little, like adding flour to your eggs and butter.
Read MoreThe art that people have made in quarantine is incredible.
Musicians are collaborating on complex multi-track recordings from afar — and sharing impromptu live concerts from their living rooms.
People are drawing and painting like crazy, setting up elaborate obstacle courses for their pets, and dancing up a storm.
Read MoreA generation of kids, used to marching from one highly structured activity to another, is learning the magic of being bored.
With virtually every after school activity canceled, they have so much free time that they have gotten their fill of Netflix and video games. They’re looking for something else.
Ray is building computers, piece by piece. Chloe is baking obsessively. Emma is gardening. Kate is learning audio recording techniques. Anna is coding. Rose is drawing for hours on end. Sam is building weird robots out of recycled components, and Daniel built a table out of wood and epoxy.
Read MoreI’ve spent approximately half of my life in Maine and the other half in Georgia. I know both places very well.
In Georgia, the daffodils of spring show up around Valentine’s Day. In Maine, you have to wait until April.
Meanwhile, the sun rises and sets over an hour earlier in Maine than it does in Georgia.
Having grown up in Maine, I was used to all of this. But spending a number of years in Atlanta has distorted my sense of time even more than the coronavirus lockdown. The arrival of blossoms and mild temperatures in Maine now seems agonizingly late. And I wake up with the sun thinking that I’m behind schedule.
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