SuzerSpace is mostly a craft blog where I share my projects and tips and tricks.
But the last year has been a tough one for just about everyone, and I’ve found myself with less enthusiasm for crafting.
When the safety protocols started for COVID-19 and I was under a stay-at-home order, I found myself filling my time reading all I could about the science behind the virus, plus a lot of long form journalism that was extremely well written but gut wrenchingly accurate about the cost of the pandemic in turns of economic and human tragedies.
I soon realized this wasn’t really a good coping mechanism – normally I like to learn everything I can about a topic, but having a jillion tabs open with each one bringing sad news, bad news or politically charged opinions was definitely NOT what I craved.
So I searched for something more uplifting. Not syrupy feel good postivity that didn’t take into account what was going on around me. That would have made me equally miserable.
Below are links to some of the places I found for reading and viewing that would fill my brain and heart with skills to weather this storm in particular, and probably all sorts of other difficult times.
A quick, but important note:
None of these links are ads or affiliate, and I’m not endorsing any particular platform.
Your mental health is a serious topic, and I’m not a doctor, so this is not advice to be used in place of professional help.
Calm, a developer of a Mediation and Mindfulness app (which I don’t use) has a variety of free resources that do not require you to download their app or provide any contact information (not even an email).
Of the above, I have really enjoyed this online generator of intention cards (kind of like and affirmation magic eight ball).
In addition, Calm has have added a page of resources specifically designed for Covid 19 stress – meditations, lectures and stories to listen to lull yourself (or someone else in your house) to sleep:
Instead of binge watching bad TV, I signed up for this Science of Happiness Course , which is online, free and self paced class taught by Professor Laurie Santos of Yale. It “reveals misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change.”
Have you watched EVERYTHING on Netflix, Prime, Hulu and Disney? TED has a neat searching tool for their talks which let you search by content, speaker or time.
If the above is all too serious for consideration, here are two more links that are pure diversion:
A nice assortment of Live Webcams featuring beautiful views, adorable puppies and aquariums (there are also bats, alligators and cats if that is more your thing).
A free download of a coloring book that you can print out for yourself or others in your household, or import into a drawing or painting program so you can color with whatever medium you prefer.
Again – these links are just things I’ve found online that I personally enjoy and they help me not spend my time doom scrolling (endlessly reading bad news about the virus or politics).
If you have any good bookmarks you’d like to share, please leave them in the comments below!
