A More Creative Quarantine

By Logan W.

After officially moving home from Lexington this past spring semester, I made it a goal for myself to spend more quality time with myself.

I knew that I was going to be spending a lot of time inside, so I wanted to make sure that I had ways to keep myself busy besides scrolling through my phone and doing homework all day. I figured the best way to do this was by expanding my creative side. I had recently started painting, so I decided to buy a ton of paint and canvases and let my mind do the rest.

This got me interested in what other people my age were doing as well. University of Kentucky students got out of school at the beginning of May, so that left a lot of time to explore different creative skills. I took to Instagram to ask my friends what they had been up to since quarantine started, and I had quite a few responses.

Caitlin Espinueva is a junior dance major on the pre-physical therapy track at UK who recently took up baking. She responded that she is trying out different kinds of vegan recipes, and her favorite is a macaron, which uses aquafaba instead of egg whites. Baking is a great way to practice mindfulness because you have to be careful of each step, and you can bake on your own.

Speaking of practicing mindfulness, junior Christy Hadley, a human health science major, has spent a lot of her time baking and experimenting with graphic design. When I asked her what she has been designing, she explained that she has been making stickers and various graphics for Instagram that are positive. This is something I think we could all use during this time. It is easy to get inside your own head when you are stuck in the house all day, so seeing or even making a nice graphic can cheer you up pretty easily!

I also had a lot of people respond saying that they learned to sew or to quilt. I think this is really interesting. During quarantine, a lot of people spent their time online shopping. If more people knew how to sew, I wonder what kind of clothes would come out. If online shopping was not available, and shopping in stores was out of the picture, I think some really cool fashion would arise.

If we left people to their creative skills, then I think we could create some pretty awesome things. A lot of adults I know started making masks when N95 masks started running out, but that was pretty much the extent I saw. I think we should challenge ourselves to create more during this time. We do not have school, besides possibly taking summer classes, and can be dangerous to get a job. So why not make something completely from scratch?

Having something you created for yourself, that you can see, touch, or even hear can help ground you in tough times, so right now would be a great time to start. Reply