If “Plan A” doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters. Here’s Campus Ministry’s plans for thriving in the pandemic:
- B - Be grateful for your health, for each breath you draw, for each step you take. Be mindful that we will once again face each other without masks, embracing, remembering, and living life to the fullest! ~John Scarano
- C - Courage is something we all need amid the duration of the Coronavirus. It’s daunting to plan one’s future. Daunting to plan a wedding. Daunting to launch a relationship—no matter how casual. Our current crisis asks each of us to put a brave foot forward. To take the initiative—and advance, even if we are unsure of the outcome. What courage will emerge in us during the Pandemic? What greater inner gift or gifts will emerge to equip us to step forward? Trust that, one way or another, you will discover the way forward. ~Fr. Bernie McAniff
- D - Do it scared. For me, when my plans fall apart, fear finds a way to creep into my head. Fear finds thousands of ways to convince me that I should just give up. But my prayer always finds a way to make me strong and fearless. As the semester of uncertainty unfolds, let's lean into prayer together and so we can find the strength to lead others even when we are scared. Through it all--God is with us. ~Jurell Sison
- E - Empathize with the experiences of individuals who are differently abled due to physical or mental illness and reflect on any able-bodied privilege. Seek out the stories of individuals whose everyday, often lifelong experience might in some way resemble a small piece of our current COVID experience marked by limitations on what we can do and where we can go. How do we continue including individuals with disabilities when our society’s majority situation returns to “normal”? ~Theresa Schmidt
- F - Feeling gratitude. Take 5 minutes at the start of your day to only focus on gratitude. COVID has limited our lives and cut off important social bonds, leaving us feeling lonely or empty. At the same time, we have so much. When I begin my day with gratitude, it changes the entire course of the day! ~Anne McGinness
- G - Growth is here. You are growing. We are growing. As uncomfortable as these months have been, we are truly growing new fruit. You and I were meant for growth. Let's keep pushing forward with patient trust and let's give our Lord the benefit of believing that his Hand is leading us. ~Mark Grabowski
- H - Hope can be lived out, not just something that we dream about. Try to think of a concrete thing that you can do which reflects your hope - hope for yourself, your community, or even people that you don't even know personally. While there are many things we cannot do right now, there are beautiful ways that we can live out and be the hope that we desperately need in our world, for ourselves, and those around us. ~Kathleen Sardon
Stay connected:
- Follow Campus Ministry on Instagram and Facebook for continued content
- Print out Campus Ministry’s weekly events calendar
- Add the Campus Ministry Google Calendar for weekly and special events
- Schedule a virtual meeting with any of our Campus Ministers
Stay engaged:
- Prepare for your return to public spaces by making your own face mask! All you need is a T-shirt, a pair of scissors, and this video.
- Take a virtual prayer walk
- Stretch it out. Virtual classes, meetings, and hang outs likely means a lot of time spent hunched over a computer. Take 10 minutes to stretch out your neck, shoulders, and upper back with this video.
- LOL. Laughter has many short term and long term benefits for our health. Intentionally take time today to find something that makes you really laugh out loud. Need a suggestion? Check out these laugh challenges.
- Get creative -- try writing a short story, poem, or song using the New York Times picture prompts.
- Create a quarantine playlist or listen to Campus Ministry’s Daily Bop
- Come to the Quiet with Campus Ministry on Thursdays from 3-3:30pm ET on GoogleMeet or try a guided meditation
- Stream of consciousness writing/drawing
- Listen to an episode of Campus Ministry’s Faith That Does Justice podcast or find a new podcast
- Learn a Tik Tok/viral video dance
- Try yoga with a beginners yoga video, such as Yoga with Adriene or Candlelight Yoga from Crunch Fitness before bed
- Feeling sluggish between Zoom meetings? Start by trying this 5-minute energy boost before, after, or between your classes.
- Put on a livestream of a national park
- Gratitude journaling exercise
- Learn sign language phrases
- Engage in a comforting or self-soothing activity
- Create a blog of what quarantine is like
- Write a real letter to perhaps an older relative who would love to receive mail
- Play the Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery game on your phone
- Better Sleep: Start tonight with these helpful tips.
- Manage Zoom fatigue by checking out these tips and incorporating them into your daily routine.
Other ideas? Email tschmidt22@jcu.edu to add to this list!
If you're stuck in quarantine, let us help! Complete our form here.