We are currently in the midst of a truly terrifying time. A good portion of us are stuck at home feeling very helpless and seeking out distractions that will both aid in lifting our mood and taking our mind off the devastation that is taking over the world. Here are my recommendations for everything of this nature:
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
This is a current show airing on NBC (and Hulu), but I'm pretty sure the first two episodes are available to watch on Youtube. Zoey is a tech girl who gains the ability to hear people singing the songs that most portray their inner emotions after the entire online music catalogue gets jammed into her head during an MRI. This is my most recent obsession, it's light-hearted while not being a sitcom, the songs are feel good and beautifully done (sometimes there's even dancing!), and all the characters are wonderfully unique. It stars Lauren Graham, which was enough of a selling point to me. If you liked Kimmy Schmidt and/or Glee, then you'll like this. Give it a try.
Pocket Camp/Animal Crossing
I know the entire Internet is currently abuzz with Animal Crossing: New Horizons hype, but as someone who is poor and dislikes sharing a Switch with someone, I'm happy to stick with the free app Pocket Camp which is basically the same game though limited. I find happiness in dressing up my little animal friends, catching fish to distract myself from those gloomy 2am thoughts, and all-in-all like having something mindless that doesn't necessarily keep me awake longer than I should. Bonus: It isn't social media. I can't push this game strongly enough if you're a person who deals with nighttime anxiety. It's very soothing, give it a try.
Anna Kendrick
Whether it's marathoning the Pitch Perfect trilogy, reading her book Scrappy Little Nobody, listening to any soundtrack with her involved, rewatching her lip-sync battles, or reliving the utter crazy that was The Twilight Saga, you literally can't not be happy when consuming anything involving Anna Kendrick. She's a ray of freaking sunshine with the mouth of a sailor.
Books
Books are the most realistic escapism you're going to get. Your mind can't digest a book and be freaking out over the apocalypse simultaneously, well, it probably can but that just means your book isn't distracting enough. Reading is a personal thing, so you may already have a genre that you reach for when looking for something to grab your undivided attention. Personally, I find rom-com type books or thrillers to be the most engaging for me when stressed, so... For rom-comness I recommend The Hating Game by Sally Thorne or The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, both are great if you want quick-wit dialogue and smutty goodness. For thrillers I recommend anything by Riley Sager or Ruth Ware. Their entire catalogues are fun and not entirely predictable.
Food Network
When is a cooking show not comfort television? It's no secret that me and my husband constantly watch and push Guy's Grocery Games onto people. It's one of our favourite shows and has some weird rewatchablity that not many cooking competitions have. But if that's not your jam (judging you.. joking.. kind of), Ace Of Cakes is the ultimate feelgood show with a great group of people, all of whom you will grow to adore. Jeff is the best. However, you will want cake when watching so make sure you have baking supplies. In a similar sense, when is The Great British Bake Off not good for the soul? This one is on Netflix, so I'm kind of cheating, but it's for a good cause. Watch Mary Berry say 'soggy bottom' a few dozen times and your body will relax.
There we have it! Quite obviously, hobbies are a great way to occupy yourself, but rather impossible to recommend as your hobbies are, well, your hobbies. I like to paint, fill up my bullet journal, and am currently in the midst of learning to knit. What hobby are you thinking of picking up?
Keep safe,
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