Instead of focusing on what we can’t do right now, tell me: What have you been able to do that normally you would not do right now?

For me, two things come to mind:

1. I am applying for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. This is a huge grant. Writing the application is taking enormous amounts of time. I went to a workshop on March 10 and left that day thinking, “How am I going to pull this off by April 8?” I really was thinking I’d just have to wait until next year. But now, working at home, I have a lot more flexibility and have been able to devote hours to the application. It’s hugely competitive, but like with other grants, I will just keep applying until I get it!
2. 30 days of biking challenge. Our local bike shop sponsors this challenge every April. The point is to bike every day, a minimum of two miles. Each April I look at all my friends doing it and say, “No way can I find time to bike every day.” April is the busiest month of spring semester, and really the busiest month of the school year. But now, again with the flexibility in my schedule, I figured I could find at least a bit of time each day to bike. 

There are lots of other things, too — walking the dogs almost every day, making lunch, making dinners, quiet evenings at home, doing a little bit of organizing and culling, etc.

How about you?