Hello, my friends!
It’s been a little over a week since everything shut down in Michigan. My tae kwon do class was canceled. My church is livestreaming. My ACT was postponed and my AP exam will be at my house. My musical is on hold with no definite plans to actually perform.
Most of you are probably in a similar situation. While I’m not going to be talking about COVID-19 specifically on my blog, I want to let you all know that I’m praying for us all and that you are not alone. We’re all in this together.
If you’re looking for resources to get you through all of this, here are a few things that I’ve found helpful:
- Andrew Peterson is reading aloud from On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness every night for the next couple of weeks on his Facebook and YouTube.
- Story Warren has a long list of online streaming options, including Audible, a readalong from Henry and the Chalk Dragon, live events with authors, concerts with Slugs & Bugs and lots of other artists, online ballet lessons, and zoo visits!
- S.D. Smith created a list of artists to support during this crazy time.
- The Gray Havens is hosting a free concert on Thursday night via their website.
- The Rabbit Room has created a digital care package featuring concerts, readalouds, writing classes, homeschool resources, and liturgy downloads.
- Douglas McKelvey shared his liturgy for those flooded by too much information.
- Brett Harris wrote a very helpful post about what teens can do to when the coronavirus cancels everything.
- My blogging friend Jo started an inspirational Instagram.
- And I’ve read a host of wonderful blog posts:
Once you’re done checking all those amazing resources out, though, you’re still going to be stuck at home. So you’ll probably go do your chores, and finish up your homework or schoolwork, and take a walk down the road, and get the mail, and call or text your friends, and check social media, and talk to your family, and watch a movie…
…and you’ll still be stuck at home.
Since I, like you, am stuck at home, I’ve decided to use my extra time and my intense boredom to read a lot of books. Of course, it doesn’t mean I’m not stuck at home, or I’m not bored, but it definitely helps to reduce my boredom, and when I read, I get to experience the life of someone else who lives somewhere else. So… I sort of get to travel.
I think that reading is one of the best things to do when you’re stuck at home and completely bored — and I also think that while setting goals to read classics or hard-to-read books is never a bad thing, your boredom will not end if you’re slogging your way through Orthodoxy or North and South (both of which excellent books I have recently read).
I think that right now, the best books to read are the kind that keep you up at night, the ones you can’t put down, the ones that make you care and cry and laugh and scream right along with the characters. So today I’m going to recommend books that I can’t put down, fast-paced and addicting stories with compelling plotlines and lovable characters.
I hope one of these books helps you escape to a different world and fall in love with its characters during this quarantine!Read More »
Maya Joelle 