Staying Sane While Staying at Home

I have no idea how long it’s been since we all started staying at home in the state of New Jersey. The days and times have all meshed together so I frequently don’t know what day of the week it is anymore! Now that I finished my classes for the semester (YAY), I’m sure this is going to be a bigger problem because I don’t have to wake up early during certain days.

Like a lot of people, I’m feeling a bit stir crazy. I don’t go out a lot normally, but I miss window shopping at the mall or my doodle dates at Panera with my friend. I also miss not fearing for my life and being near people.

Despite all that, I try my best not to think of these things, as I should be thankful my family members and I are healthy and safe! Instead, I try to do things that help me stay sane while staying at home.

Drawing & Shop Work

Drawing can help alleviate stress and anxiety. When I draw, I momentarily forget about the outside world and focus on what I’m trying to make. I turn on some music that helps my creative juices flow, and I do this for maybe an hour up to five or six hours in a day. You can see what I’m currently thinking about … hahaha!

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[ Fast food series ] #1: Cheeseburger 🍔⠀ .⠀ .⠀ I put up a poll last week asking you guys what you'd like to see next and the majority of you chose a food series, so here we go! 😊 I'm starting off with a fast food series! I chose to draw a cheeseburger because it's a great classic fast food AND it fulfills the #dtiys from @23yueliang for reaching 25k! Check it out if you haven't already 😊❤️⠀ .⠀ Also in each of my food series, you may or may not see little helpers with the fast food items! 😁 May make them into little stickers later down the line, we shall see 🤣⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ SHOP: https://buff.ly/3buslaE⠀ KO-FI: https://buff.ly/2WMcUVN⠀ TWITTER: https://buff.ly/2Wq4u7I⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #YUE25k #drawthisinyourstyle #dtiyschallenge #drawthisinyourstylechallenge #cheeseburger #foodart #fastfood #chick #cuteanimals #cutearteveryday #cuteartfeatured #kawaiiartsundays #kawaiiart #cuteart #cuteillustrations #artinspiration #illustrator #Illustrations #newjerseyartist #illustratorsoninstagram #artgram #tempuradesign #cute #kawaii #kawaiiart365 #digitalart #digitalillustration #girlswhodraw

A post shared by Geraldine Draws (@geraldinedraws) on May 11, 2020 at 5:01pm PDT

Besides drawing, I’m constantly brainstorming ideas for what I could do next for my online shop. I’dd love to have a bunch of things there like keychains, enamel pins, and even sticky notes or notepads, but those all require outsourcing. I’m not yet comfortable with doing any of that because that usually requires me to buy in bulk and it’s more than what I want to spend right now. If I were making more sales and consistent sales, I’d feel it would be okay then to start doing those things. I’m currently in the process of making bookmarks, and I’m so excited!

Binge Watching Shows

It’s the perfect time to catch up on the shows I’ve been wanting to watch! I still have a ton of shows on my watch list, but I’ve managed to catch up to the latest One Piece episode (an anime with over 900 episodes … and it’s still not finished). Currently, the shows I’m watching are We Bare Bears and Once Upon a Time. I’m a sucker for cartoons and fairy tales so I couldn’t resist!

Exercising

When I still attended school on campus, I would at least be able to get some exercise by walking from the parking lot to my classes. Now that we are all staying at home, I’ve been sitting so much more, which is terrible!

My exercise routine is still not great, but I manage to get up and exercise at least two or three times a week. Because of my back, I also try to get up and do a lot of stretches so I don’t feel like death. I’ve also had some motivation to walk around my neighborhood when it’s warm and sunny out! I actually found out there’s a hiking trail right in my neighborhood so I’m going to explore that at some point!

It’s super hard for me to get the motivation to exercise, but I’m glad I got to do a little something during this time! I’ve always blamed it on the fact that I have no time, but now I really don’t have an excuse not to.

Video Games

I’ve occupied a lot of my time not only watching shows but playing video games (on PC)!!

• The Sims 4 – I made my best friend, her boyfriend, and my mom. It’s pretty funny to watch their interactions with each other!
• Graveyard Keeper
• Untitled Goose Game – finally finished it!
• MapleStory
• My Time at Portia

(MapleStory) I can dance with others and not worry about being 6 ft. away

Making / Editing YouTube Videos

Besides opening my online art shop in the middle of all this, I also started up a YouTube channel for my art page, where I talk about my experience of opening up a shop and have “studio vlogs”! I never imagined I’d be able to make YouTube videos especially living where I am now, as the internet here is HORRENDOUS. However, I found that I can just upload my video at night while I’m asleep so it doesn’t bother anyone during the day (for reference, it takes like TWO HOURS to upload a 5-8 minute video).

I also never imagined editing videos could be so fun? It’s almost kind of therapeutic (maybe I’m crazy)!

How are YOU staying sane during these crazy times?!

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