Today’s challenge: Spend time outdoors.
Distance is not confinement. It is simply distance. Do not mistake being locked down for being locked up. Of the all spaces that allow a six-foot berth, a vast majority are outdoors.
If possible, visit the trees. The Japanese practice shinrin-yoku—forest bathing. Being amongst trees lifts your mood and lowers blood pressure. It relaxes, de-stresses, releases pent-up anxiety. It pries you from the beck and call of one more hit of gloomy news. Most of all, it just plain feels good. No cabin; no cabin fever.
But one need not be in a forest or park to bathe outdoors. Go for a walk in your neighborhood, a walk on the beach. When you see others, shout “hello” from across the street, from down the driveway, from up the hill. Even in density, there are ways to bathe: On the stoop or patio, half-leaning out of a fire escape, a book in your lap; on the roof of your building, sitting cross-legged under the sun on an unfurled blanket, as you eat your microwaved burrito.
Good times to go out are after meals, or first thing in the morning. If you are working from home, pretend you are commuting. Get dressed as you normally would, procure a hot beverage, add layers for weather, head out the door. Sip your drink as you walk or sit, and prepare, mentally, to arrive. There is no reason a commute can’t end the same place where it starts.
Remember: Distance is not confinement. It is simply distance.