Beating The Lockdown Blues
Written by Sarah Smit
Perthites had less than five hours warning on Sunday that we’d all be ditching workplace pencil skirts, unceremoniously binning all of our plans and hunkering down at home for a week. Masks went on and bras came off for the long monotonous hours inside with only Netflix for company.
Keeping in good mental health is hard during a surprise lockdown. You’ve got to be wary of falling into a couch-bound doom-scroll; it’s mental health kryptonite to do nothing but obsessively check today’s COVID numbers while covered in the empty wrappers of that last box of Christmas Favourites (the cops probably won’t like “I needed better chocolate” as a reason to leave the house).
Keeping creative and connected is the key to getting through a lockdown without becoming a quarantine gremlin who lives wholly on Jatz and a steady diet of low-level existential dread.
Here’s a list of things you can do to keep your brain and heart in tip-top shape while you’re stuck at home.
1. Bullet journaling.
Many of us (me especially) need outside structure to be a human person and not a Pinterest-scrolling blob. Sans going to work, my bullet journal (bujo for short) keeps me sane- it’s an organisational tool, mindfulness practise and art diary all in one. If you haven’t come across bullet journaling before, here’s an explanation of what it is, from the system’s creator Ryder Carroll. Best of all, you’ve probably got everything you need to get started- any old journal or notebook will do, plus some pens. Some people paint water colours in their bujos, some use coloured pencils, some put cute stickers and washi tape in as decorations. I just use black pens and highlighters, but Jordan does watercolours.
All images: 1. Grace Marie Bullet Journal. 2. Jordan Watercolours. 3. Grace Marie Bullet Journal
2. Home-made paper mâché
It can be hard to come up with creative endeavours without the generous inspiration available at Spotlight, but the inability to pop out and grab craft supplies means we can be creative with methods as well as projects. Out of glue? You can make fully sustainable, fully organic, non-toxic glue out of flour and water. One part flour to four parts water, cook it on the stove till it’s clearish rather than white. Voila! Glue for papermaiche projects. It’s water soluble too, so if you spill any on the floor, walls, or toddler, a damp cloth will take it right off.
Image: Open Hands Creative: Papermaking Workshop. You can learn online: Watch our Skillshare video
3. Visible mending of old clothes
The textile industry is one of the most polluting on earth, and textile waste is a HUGE burden on the planet. Back before fast fashion made it cheaper to buy something new instead of repair what we have, our grandparents used to mend clothes. Got a favourite shirt that’s getting a bit ratty or those jeans that fit like a second skin but have a hole in the crotch? Try Sashiko- the Japanese art of making your repairs beautiful.
4. Refashion clothing
You’ve almost certainly got about five t-shirts that you don’t like and don’t wear buried at the bottom of your closet. Are there ways you can refashion items you have to make them wearable? Taking the sleeves off an old work shirt, shortening those too-long khakis, or making a skirt out of that strangely shaped dress you got last Christmas? Prepare to come out of quarantine looking like a DIY goddess. BUT if you really can’t refashion or repair clothes that aren’t getting any wear…
5. Make some masks!
Reusing the fabric from old clothes is a great way to stop that Linkin Park tee (we were all goth once) going into landfill. Avoiding single use masks is a plus too. Here are the CDC’s guidelines for making cloth masks.
Illustrations by @marhuntillustrations
6. Drawing
Pick up the pencil, charcoal, biro, or lipstick and get drawing! Whatever your medium, signing up to the Open Hands 30 Day Drawing Challenge will take you on a guided daily journey to unlock your creativity over a month. The challenge sends you a new drawing prompt every day for 30 days and with opportunities for feedback every week and a community of likeminded people drawing along with you, it’s a great way to keep consistent with the habit of self-care.
Image: Open Hands Creative: 30 Day Drawing Challenge: https://www.openhandscreative.com/perth-art-workshops/30-day-drawing-challenge
Creativity is self-care, and doom-scrolling is bad for you. We hope we’ll be out of lockdown in the five days, but if not, quarantining needs to be sustainable. Jump on zoom, have a craft date with your friends, and care of yourself. <3