By now, you’d have seen the headlines plastered everywhere: the 4th wave is possible, and possibly imminent. If you haven’t seen news of that, consider this the news, as the number of infections as well as the R0 rises. And we know that everyone’s getting real tired of staying at home, but it is a good way to prevent infection, and break the chain, or flatten the curve. Since last year, we’ve also probably exhausted lots of options, but here are another 8 more things you can try as you stay at home, in hopes of preventing the COVID-19 4th wave.
1) Live Stream the Northern Lights
There’s actually a live cam located at the Churchill Northern Studies Center in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. It’s directly underneath the aurora oval–one of the best places on earth to watch the aurora borealis, better known as the Northern Lights. According to the website, the best times to watch it are during the months of February and March, and since it’s now April, it’s a little late, but you can still check out the view regardless, and hope to catch a glimpse anyway! I personally clicked in a few days ago, and was greeted by a green sky punctuated with stars, and some swirly patterns. If I had to hazard a guess, it was some kind of Northern-Lights-but-not-really phenomenon, which was still cool anyway! Click here to view the live stream!
2) Take A Class On Happiness
Do you think you know how to be happy? If your answer is “yes”, you can probably skip this. But if you’re unsure, or would like to improve being happy, check out “The Science of Well-Being” course, offered by none other than Yale University. Available on Coursera, you can click here to access it, and enrol for free. According to the website, the course started on 15th April, but since it’s just the 17th today, we think you can still make it. Otherwise, there are plenty of other courses you can browse since you’re there. Skills you’ll gain after this course include “gratitude, happiness, meditation, and savouring”.
3) Join An Online Escape Room
In-person escape rooms still may not be the best idea at present time, but luckily, there’s an online version of it. Perfect for those who like to solve mysteries/riddles, you can round up your friends and try your hand at the many, many options of online escape rooms. It sure beats just video calling with nothing else to do! Some online escape rooms we found include Strike, an Australian company, with different themes/rooms to choose from; a Hogwarts Digital Escape Room, for the Potterheads, obviously; and our very own Breakout in Malaysia, where you have to “find Chris”.
4) Marie Kondo Your House
You might have been very focused on cleaning and disinfecting, but clearing out stuff is also a good way to make you, well, feel good. Set aside items that you no longer need, and for those that are still in good condition, consider donating them to help out the needy. Those which are no longer salvageable can be thrown in the trash, instead of cluttering up your space. You can check out these tips if you need help to get started!
5) Go Into Space
NASA is offering virtual tours, and now you too, can go into space while remaining firmly on your couch at home. There are plenty of tours you can take with NASA, as they have a whole list right here. Included categories are featured tours, the International Space Station, operations centers, planets of other stars, and NASA centers, all of which have many different tours under them.
6) Do A Jigsaw Puzzle
Did you roll your eyes, groan, or maybe scoff, because this is a given, and perhaps you’ve done like, a thousand of them? You’re now proficient in jigsaw puzzling, and can tackle a 5,000-piece, no sweat? Well, what about taking on the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle, consisting of 54,000 pieces? Its dimensions are 864 x 204 cm, so it can literally go up on your wall (it will be the wall, actually) once you’re done. Apparently, it’s super in demand, so go ahead and click here to purchase (or pre-order).
7) Take An Ivy League Course
For free. 450 courses available. Look, now you don’t have to go to an Ivy League institution to be Ivy League-certified. You can do so right at home, and your journey begins here. Simply browse through and see what tickles your academic fancy, and you’re on your way to learning, depending on start date. (We are somehow extremely drawn to the course that just says “Sharks!“, but that’s us.)
8) Do Nothing
Look, we get that you might feel like you need something to occupy yourself with all the time, but it’s actually okay to do nothing as well. Stare into space, daydream, take a nap… the possibilities are endless when you really just set your mind to doing nothing. Not to mention that doing nothing is actually a great way for your mind and body to relax and unwind, without constantly being in motion. If you can’t settle down enough to do nothing, perhaps try no. 2 first, and try this again. Let us know how you fare!
As always, please do stay safe during this time, and take care of yourselves. Remember to follow all SOPs, and together let’s try to bring the number of cases down. Hate to say it, but if you can, stay at home! You have these activities to help you out now!
