Finding leisure through improvisation at home: Self-sustainment during COVID-19

Abstract

During tumultuous, shaky, and uncertain times such as COVID-19, understandings of and life at home have shifted dramatically, especially amidst lockdown or on-and-off stay-at-home orders. While staying at home made me feel a sense of safety and protection, lockdown was a whole other challenge. Staying at home from morning till dawn, doing the exact same things over and over again, and relying on technology more than ever to fuel my social needs, encompassed my lockdown routine; a routine developed out of desires for normalcy and desperation to feel a sense of stability and so-called productivity. In light of my sanity and survival, I had to make do. I had to improvise. I had to find ‘leisure‘ that worked for me while the world moved cautiously amidst COVID. In the details of everyday pandemic life, I found leisure in improvisation. In some cases such as my lockdown experience, leisure can be found in improvisation; not just in one thing or activity per se, but also in a series of pursuits that can help us make do, pass time, keep sane, and even experience temporary bliss and enjoyment amidst an unsteady and unpredictable environment.