I have been working an online job for about 5 years now and many would think during this quarantine where everyone must work from home I am probably in an ideal situation! Unfortunately that isn't the case and even online tasks being posted have slowed down a bit. So how have I been filling my days?
In some respects things seem quite the same for me. I am still at home, so many of my activities are business as usual, but seeing the economy doing a massive downturn, knowing that this will most likely have ripple effects long term has instilled a sense of urgency in me about becoming more self sufficient.
Art and music
I have always been a proponent of art and music therapy. One of the troubles for many people is getting started. I have spoken with many creative friends since the quarantine began and they have said some variation of I know I will feel better if I let it out creatively but I feel stuck with anxiety over this situation :(. I get it, I have bursts of creativity and bursts where I feel stuck in a rut too. One of my main goals is to try to engage in a creative activity for at least a few hours a day.
Sometimes that means making art, sometimes music, sometimes it means writing a post on hive.
Art
Here are a few pieces that I have created since the quarantine started:
Cliffs of Anxiety:
Apocalypse Brides:
Angel of Death:
I tokenize these on my SuperRare store and I am thankful I have had some sales :)
Music
I have also been working on a music project with @vachemorte! We have one song pretty much completed called Blessed Lettuce which will be posted in the Blessed Lettuce community. I have been toying with some album art, it will most likely look something like this:
Hopefully we will be able to complete a small album (The Quarantine Sessions) because why not?
Gardening and self-sufficiency
I live in an apartment so I normally get a small herb garden growing on my balcony. This year I am expanding that goal because now I fear that there could be fresh food shortages. I am really hoping this doesn't happen but I think at least practicing and learning the skills can be a useful thing to set my self up for.
Yesterday I started sprouting green onions and garlic!
Already on day 2 the onions are sprouting which is pretty exciting :)
This is an extremely simple method that can be done without seeds and there are many youtube videos about how to do so if you are inclined :)
I was also inspired by @lpfaust to get a sourdough starter going. You know what's crazy? I generally eat low carb and barely eat any bread, lol! Now I am worried that if bread ever becomes scarce I will need to know how to make it, if not for me for friends and family!
I watched quite a lot of videos on how to get the natural yeast going and was under the impression that it would take a week but after only two days my starter passed the test of floating in water so it looks like it is ready to use.
The magic ingredient that got it going so fast? HONEY!
Lastly I am trying to sprout some lentils which can be a great way to get some fresh greens if they ever become scarce. Not much happening yet, I'll have to keep you updated on this one:
The garlic and onions shpuld be ready for planting in soil in 1 to 2 weeks and I hope it will be warm enough outside. It is warming up here but we still have very cold nights. I will keep a running update on the gardening stuff, I would also like to add some herbs and maybe some more vegetables but I will have to see what I have space for!
Final summary and timeline
- I would like to create at least 2 new pieces of art per week, more is better but 2 minimum
- Finish the Quarantine sessions album by a deadline of two weeks and have it posted on HIVE
- The timeline is more blurry for the gardening, hopefully the cuttings I have done now will be plantable in the next 14 days. I would like to stagger new cuttings of various species and continue adding
- This week I will try to make 1 loaf of sourdough bread and see if it's edible!
- If I've not messed something up with the lentils I will be able to cook with them in a few days lol, if this experiment succeeds I will try sprouting some other things
This post was made in response to the challenge put out by OCD and Blocktrades, if you would like to share your goals for the quarantine here is the post Quarantine Challenge!
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