Bridging the social-distancing gap with activity ideas for connecting with friends, extended family and the greater community virtually or from a safe physical distance! Creating a space for our followers to share their favorite activities as well! Remembering we are all in this together.
Welcome!
Welcome to our first Together Tuesdays post! While we may begin to feel more and more isolated from others as activities, events, and even daily responsibilities are cancelled or significantly restricted, we can still come together virtually or physically (from a distance).
It can be difficult to reconcile the benefits of social distancing for our physical health with the negative impact on our emotional health. To foster a healthy mindset it’s important to have concrete reminders that all-across the world, we are-in this together!
While we are temporarily more physically isolated, we need to take care of our social and emotional needs by connecting in less-traditional ways. Our wellness educator, Tracy, has a fun idea to welcome spring and spread joy, love and connection!
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day today (or just in honor of the approach of spring), engage your kids in an outdoor craft to brighten up your yard and your neighborhood. Cut colorful ribbon or yarn into long strips and tie onto a fence, tree branch, lamp post, doorway or window, placing the ribbons or yarn strips somewhere where those passing by can see! Could be rainbow order if you have it or any array of colors, hang a few lengths of what you do have with the broader vision of creating a neighborhood (or even a world rainbow!) with color contributions from each household. (If you happen to be using wider ribbon, you could also consider writing a wish directly onto the ribbon using a watersafe marker.)
If you live in a neighborhood with single family homes and have a number of kids on your block, consider inviting each family to come outside to engage in this activity separately together. If you live in an apartment building, you could hang your colors (and invite your neighbors to do the same) from your balcony or in a window.
Seeing others being positively engaged can help us to keep a more hopeful and resilient mindset. All the colors making our community rainbow blowing in the breeze or seen through windows can be a colorful reminder to passers-by that people are continuing to come together to make the world a more beautiful place.
No ribbon, that’s ok! You can still spread joy, love and connection!
- Create your own rainbow drawing and share with us or your family
- Find recyclables, labels or junk mail to make a collage
- Share a bright smile with a family member
- Wear colorful shirts as family and share your favorite way to spend time together
Then, tonight, enjoy some music together by tuning into a live streamed concert. Bands playing without audiences can bring us all together virtually to lift our spirits through the power of music. Check out http://www.arcadalive.com/live-at-the-arcada/ for music from The Celtniks at 8:30 Eastern.
Upcoming classical concerts being live-streamed
17 March, 19:30 ET: The Met presents Puccini’s La Bohème, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas (transmitted live on 5 April 2008).
Visit: metopera.org
18 March, 19:30 ET: The Met presents Verdi’s Il Trovatore, conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Dolora Zajick, Yonghoon Lee, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky (transmitted live on 3 October 2015).
Visit: metopera.org
18 march, 19:30 ET: Fleur Barron (mezzo-soprano) and pianist Julius Drake perform Beethoven and Mahler.
Visit: 92y.org
19 March, 19:30 GMT: London Symphony Orchestra and François-Xavier Roth perform works by Bartók and Stravinsky, with violinist Isabelle Faust.
Visit: youtube.com
19 March, 19:30 ET: The Met presents Verdi’s La Traviata, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Flórez, and Quinn Kelsey (transmitted live on 15 December 2018).
Visit: metopera.org
20 March, 18:00 GMT: The Finnish National Opera performs Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.
Visit: oopperabaletti.fi
20 March, 19:30 ET: The Met presents Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez (transmitted live on 26 April 2008).
Visit: metopera.org
21 March, 18:00 GMT: Orchestra of the J.S. Bach Foundation performs Bach’s Cantata BWV 106 ‘Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit’.
Visit: bachstiftung.ch
21 March, 19:30 ET: The Met presents Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Mariusz Kwiecien (transmitted live on 7 February 2009).
Visit: metopera.org
22 March, 19:30 GMT: Iestyn Davies (countertenor) and Thomas Dunford perform ‘England’s Orpheus’ at the Wigmore Hall in London.
Visit: wigmore-hall.org.uk
22 March, 19:30 ET: The Met presents Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, conducted by Valery Gergiev, starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky (transmitted live on 24 February 2007).
Visit: metopera.org
4 April, 14:00 GMT: Barbara Hannigan and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra perform Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto with violinist Veronika Eberle.
Visit: gso.se
6 April, 19:30 GMT: Leon McCawley (piano) performs Schubert, Schumann, Grieg and Janáček at the Wigmore Hall in London.
Visit: wigmore-hall.org.uk
20 April, 19:00 GMT: National Youth Orchestra of Germany & Christoph Altstaedt perform music by Beethoven and Brett Dean.
Visit: www.digitalconcerthall.com