Voluntary Confinement

As we are slammed with the media taking over our mobile devices, televisions, workplace chatter, YouTube channels, neighborly chats, computers, tablets, etc. since the Coronavirus has landed in America. I have stocked the fridge with wholesome foods and lined my pantry shelves with non-perishables as well. Each day we check in with the news stations, at their mercy, with every hope of staying informed. Our current administration is careless, useless, uneducated, and unempathetic. We are left to support and care for one another. Let's do this!

My plan is not to come in contact with others. Not because I don't care about them, but because of the true uncertainty of this virus. We just don't know what is coming next. I feel better to be safe than sorry. I would never want to make anyone else sick. I call it voluntary confinement.

As many of you know, it would take months for me to run out of things to do around the house. We have seven cats, two big dogs, five bedrooms, a large garden, a pond, a greenhouse. In our home, there is a sewing/quilting room, a bead room, and a room dedicated to pottery. I also have stuffed so many "found objects" into the garage that I have enough projects for a year's worth of creative sculptural flow! My flower beds are bursting with new life and today I received a delivery of four yards of mulch. I also have plenty of computer work to update my web site, the Conscious Creations events and correspondence with friends as we approach the spring quilt retreat. Everything is up in the air.

That brings me to consider my mortality. Right now I am healthy. I do have a compromised immune system. Am I concerned? Scared? Yes. Am I in a panic? No. I have always had a strong sense of faith. I believe what is supposed to happen- does happen. I have lived a full and wonderful life. In a week, I will be 52. I am happy, blessed, and so grateful. I cherish family and friends. I have plans to publish three of my books and love my creative tribe. My life is made of traditions and celebrating every single moment. I am a person who loves rituals, music, and the desert. I look up to the sun and live in the light.

Here is the list of things I will tackle, with a few things I have added for you. Let me know what you think and how many of them you decide to check off. Wash your hands and don't touch your face. In all seriousness, eat well and drink plenty of fresh juices and water. I love you! I admire you. I adore you. I am grateful for you.

2020 Voluntary Confinement List

- Find a new recipe

- Prepare a special meal for your family

- Ask someone else to set the table

- Clean off kitchen counters, sanitize everything

- Wash/Vacuum the floors, under the furniture

- Make a song list of your favorites

- Practice new watercolor techniques

- Put down your devices and pick up a book

- Write a handwritten letter

- Read your magazines

- Sew, knit, stitch, quilt, crochet

- Call your parents and siblings

- Reach out to cousins

- Check in with your neighbors

- Check in with your elderly friends

- Declutter your home, one room at a time

- Make a donation box of things you will part with

- Support local business by purchasing gift cards

- Make your own greeting cards, journals, and coloring pages

- Outline your memoir/biography

- Start a compost bin

- Bake your partner's favorite cookies

- Bake homemade bread or pizza

- Clean out the fridge and freezer

- Clean your bathroom like important company is coming

- Make your own natural body care products

-Write a poem

- Write a story for your children

- Practice Zentangle

- Tie dye something old, something new, something blue

- Join a new group on Facebook/ These are a few of my groups:

Conscious Creations Art Studio

Kids Sew Modern

Philly Area Zentangle

One Tangle at a Time

Friendship Star Quilt Block Swap

Sew in Love

Four Corners Swap (Zentangle)

Not Your Brother's Dinner Group

Women in Good Company

Watercolor Exploration

Writer Girls

Izzi Grandkids

- Listen to a spiritual podcast/meditation

- Snuggle someone on the couch

- Iron your wrinkled clothes

- Clean up the yard/flower beds

- Plant flowers and cold weather veggies

- Stir the compost pile

- Pick up sticks

- Order mulch

- Set up bird feeders / Hummingbirds arrive in SE PA around April 10th

- Design a tee shirt quilt

- Make homemade kraut

- Pick up a camera and take 100 pictures

- Paint kindness rocks

- Take your vitamins/remedies

- Start a new sketchbook or journal

- Make a collage

- Write a new bucket list

- Begin today to be good to yourself

- Play loud music and dance around the house

- Clean out the garage and sheds

- Build a "she shed"

- Mix up a cocktail that you haven't ever had yet.

- Call your bestie and tell her that you love her

-Soak beans for tommorow's soup

- Make a salad with all of the colors of the rainbow

- Hunt for spring mushrooms

- If you are self-employed, work on your business plan/marketing

- If you have children, play games with them

- Clean up your contact lists

- Take care of your indoor plants. Talk to them, trim, mist them

- Paint one wall a vibrant color

- Make kindness rocks and leave them around the neighborhood

- Try TikTok

- Create a creative space in your home

- Create an outdoor sanctuary space

- Organize holiday decorations

- Clean out medicine cabinets/discard expired items

- Clean out kitchen cabinets/pantry

- Make a green smoothie

- Make chicken noodle soup and share it with someone

- Facetime your nieces and nephews/young friends

- Write thank-you notes

Feel free to make your own list or add to mine. Again, please reach out to me to let me know how much you accomplish on your time at home.