Thoughts from Quarantine: Staying Home to Save Lives and Making the Best of These Unusual Times
posted: May 5, 2020By: Heath
My favorite quote has been hanging in my classroom or office since the day I started my career in education. You may have seen it posted recently because April 15 was Jackie Robinson Day. He said:
A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
Now more than ever does that ring true. And it’s EASIER THAN EVER to have a positive impact on other lives. If you are not an essential worker (THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE!!!) all you have to do is stay home and wait this out. The more people that do it, the less time we will have to continue living this way.
Besides preparing feverishly for camp, like always at this time of year, I’ve decided to choose a few skills to focus on that I’ve always wanted to improve. Now more than ever is the time to practice something you’ve always wanted to get better at or take up something new that you’ve never had the time for.
I’ve been playing a lot of drums and recording music that my friends and I have been working on for a long time. I’ve practiced more on drums over the last few weeks than throughout most of my life. I’ve always wanted to produce an album of these songs (some we’ve been playing for almost 20 years) and now it’s coming together.
Another skill I’ve tried to improve during these last few weeks is cooking. I’m pretty good on the grill but still not great inside in the kitchen. I’ve found some easy recipes to try and some of them have been quite tasty. Or at least my family is being nice and telling me so! Alexa is still a better chef than I am.
I’ve dusted off my teaching skills and made my way through 2nd and 7th grade subject matter I never thought I would see again. We successfully taught Sari how to ride a bike. Now we’ve been riding around the block daily which is great exercise and gives us a greater chance of her going to bed at a reasonable time:)
My wife and I have enjoyed taking online yoga classes. I have always wanted to get into a regular routine and now seems to be a good time to do it. Ohm.
What have you taken up or worked on improving over the last 6 weeks?
