Need a little escape? We have been finding some fun things to share with you during COVID-19 that just brings a smile to our faces, and I hope it will bring a smile to yours as well. We will update this page weekly as we find great gems out there. So, from our team to you:
First, need a little laugh about this COVID-19 mess? Check out comedian songwriter Chris Mann’s parody’s My Corona and Hello (from the Inside). HERE
1] BROADWAY SHOWS – OMG! This has been wonderful. I (Julie) watched Kinky Boots a few nights ago and gave the actors a standing ovation from my living room. You feel like you are on the stage or at least the front row of the top Theatres. Now watching the King and I and then Phantom later in the week. So here is what you do: go to https://www.Broadwayhd.com or Amazon Prime and put in BroadwayHD so you can watch all on the big screen. First 7 days free.
2] OPERA BUFF? The MET in NY is streaming every night the best of the best operas. Go to: https://www.metopera.org/
3] DISNEY STREAMING Disney recently announced Disney Plus. Some movies and top content will bypass the theaters and come right to your home. HERE
4] LET’S GO TOUR THE MUSEUMS!! (Virtual Tours) Here are 16 of the best of the best from NY Metro Parents plus The Louvre, The Boston Children’s Museum
5] BEST BINGE WORTHY STREAMING ON HBO, Netflix, Hulu list HERE
A few of our favorites (by far!!!)
- Fauda (Netflix)
- Outlander (3 Series on Netflix, then STARZ)
- Jack Ryan (Amazon)
- Reign (Netflix)
- Ozark and Breaking Bad (Netflix)
- Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
- Unorthodox (Netflix- on our list)
WHAT HELPS?
MENTAL WELLBEING REFLECTION DURING TIMES OF CHANGE
WEEK 1 REFLECTION
This week was pretty good. As we move past the shock and awe phase, I have found these 8 things to be helpful to me:
1. Keep the peace at home. Do nice things for each other like bringing a cup of coffee or a special snack.
2. My mom and I have been living Facebook Portal plus. It looks like a huge iPad and I can see her as big as real life. The camera follows you around and Zooms in and out (about 180-degree wide shot). Works with Facebook messenger and What’s App. Has Alexa built-in. We plan to put it on the dining room table and invite friends for virtual meals. We don’t want our parents to feel isolated – I cannot stress how much these visual calls help. My mom (who hasn’t left her apartment in weeks) did a group for several of her friends yesterday
3. Checking in with a small group of closest friends if they are available at a certain time and then hosting a Zoom call. The best hour and 15 minutes of my week for sure! Deep conversation, learning from each other, and a lot of fun – Outlander on Netflix and Starz and Big Little Lies on Amazon were most binge-worthy recommendations.
4. My friend Holly challenged me and her mom challenged her to find a new craft. My daughter and I have been making resin (hard plastic) designs with molds we bought at Amazon and Michaels. Easy and fun. I’ll post some images later.
5. Speaking of Amazon- just bought a lot of toilet paper 🧻– will come in a week or so which is fine. It’s been 3 weeks since I have seen TP in the stores
6. Finding purpose. Through my company, we have been doing Speed Mentoring sessions weekly for free for professionals called ‘Remote, Not Isolated’. The sessions are enlightening and I am personally connecting at more meaningful levels to people. Several companies have reached out to see if we could offer them in house for their employees! The next session will be ‘Mentoring@Sea’ a nautical voyage around LeaderSHIP in times of change. More details HERE
7. Being part of group meetings. College, Chamber, Coffee Chats, Meditation, Exercise, Charities we support. Finding a few and then attending weekly. I so appreciate people who are the connectors of others. I tried out a few this week and especially love the eye to eye contact through Zoom, Adobe Connects. We are all in the same boat.
8. Getting out. Social distancing walks. Marc and I ride down AIA in Boca Raton to Pompano or Delray on our bikes or electric scooters. We have been fortunate with good weather. Every day at 5:30 or 6 pm we do this.
My friend Verne suggested the following 6 F’s and I wish you all 6!
Faith
Family
Friends
Finance
Fitness
And Fun
Check out a few of Medium.com blogs on What Helps Us: Part 1, Part 2