Too much time? David Berthold says give, read, create, learn
Crises can change behaviour permanently, sometimes for the better. Here are 10 ways to find light in the dark.
Crises can change behaviour permanently, sometimes for the better. For example, the need to share work around during the Depression helped kill off the six-day working week, creating the weekend. Unexpectedly, we discovered something we liked and kept it. Sometimes there is light in the dark.
Enforced social distancing during the coming weeks or months also may change some behaviours.
We will have a different relationship with time, and some people will cope with that changed relationship better than others.
Here are 10 ways to make friends with time, and maybe lighten things a little.
They won’t pay your bills but they may help you wring some advantage from adversity, for you and for others, and maybe permanently.
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1: If you bought tickets to a live performance that has been cancelled, consider donating to the artist or venue instead of asking for a refund. You’ll feel better. You’ll help ensure those pleasures are still there when things get back to normal. You’ll also help people eat and pay rent. Remember that this industry has casual and freelance workers at double the rate of the larger Australian population and its organisations are lean even in the best of times. This industry has been devastated. And consider that just over a month ago many of these workers gave their time and talent for free to help raise funds for bushfire relief, the kind of community contribution they are daily asked to make. Now is the time to give back.
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2: Enjoy streamed performances. During this crisis, many organisations are streaming for free. The Berliner Philharmoniker, for example, has just opened its Digital Concert Hall service for free, making available 600 orchestral concerts. About 60 films of top contemporary performance works from around the world are available for free at ontheboards.tv until the end of next month. You can watch works from Faye Driscoll, Rude Mechs, Teatro Linea de Sombra and lots more. Every day, we hear of more live-streaming of performances. The Social Distancing Festival website is trying to group many of them.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra played brilliantly from an empty Hamer Hall last week.
Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard is hosting musical sessions from his home studio. Global Citizen and the World Health Organisation have launched a virtual concert series on Instagram called #TogetherAtHome, kicking off with Chris Martin and John Legend, and following with amazing sets from artists such as Miguel, Rufus Wainwright, Bastille, and Lindsey Sterling. Josh Gad from Frozen 2 went live online to read one of his favourite books, Olivia Goes to Venice. Opera companies and indie musos are all digging in. Passwords are being removed all over the place.
Dive in. You may discover a love for a new artist or art form. And you can donate along the way.
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3: Read a book. How often do you say you don’t have the time? Perhaps read about something new to you — a different culture, the life story of someone very different to you, an account of an inspiring event. You may develop a new interest or understanding. During this crisis, many bookshops are offering free shipping. Get social and start a virtual book club. You may need the company.
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4: Learn to cook better. Make different kinds of meals with new ingredients. If the supermarket is out of pasta, all you need to make your own is eggs, flour, olive oil and salt. Make stuff up. When things get back to normal, invite friends over and show off. You may turn acquaintances into friends.
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5: Make music. Moog and Korg have just made their synth apps free to help musicians stuck at home. Or maybe learn the guitar. You’ve probably always wanted to. You may discover a lifelong balm or a special way to annoy your friends. When we’re allowed to go out, go to a gig, especially if you’ve never been to one before.
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6: Tour a museum. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Guggenheim Museum are just two big museums that host online virtual tours. Google Arts & Culture has a collection of walk-throughs for dozens of international museums. Art Basel launched its Online Viewing Rooms on March 20, with 233 galleries participating from around the world, each choosing a curatorial concept for their virtual room.
Then, when things get better, visit your local museums more.
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7: Create a garden. Even if it’s in a bucket. It’s stuff from nothing, and what can be bad about nurturing something into life? Coriander? Cherry tomatoes? Strawberries?
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8: Learn a new language. Learn 10 phrases in Chinese or Arabic or a local Aboriginal language or Auslan. How hard can it be? And it just may open a window.
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9: Be in nature. It’s the best way of getting out of the house and keeping a distance from other people. Notice things around you that you didn’t see before.
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10: Learn mindfulness. It’s a superpower. We are often good at counting our troubles but more often bad at counting our joys.
So amid these horrors, let’s try to count and create joys, for ourselves and others, to make a different kind of weekend. A richer, kinder one.