Ideas to Creatively Connect During Coronavirus | Building Community Despite Quarantine

Hi, welcome to the Woods fans. It's Melissa. So today I am here to really talk about something very important. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all been asked to self-quarantine in our homes. And in Minnesota, the governor has asked us to stay in home for two weeks and then regular social distancing, preventing groups of more than 10 people for another three weeks after that. This has left me and my family feeling kind of isolated and lonely, as I'm sure a lot of you are feeling out there now. But I want to invite you guys to really explore how your creativity can keep you connected to your community and you can show support for the people around you. So the first idea I have for you guys is to take part in the hashtag, a world of hearts. This is something I think has been started for about a week now, but it's becoming very, very popular. All you have to do is cut out heart shapes in whatever design you like, put them up in your windows, and this will allow your neighbors to kind of have a little scavenger hunt when they walk the neighborhood. It's fun to look at all the different houses and all the different windows that have the hearts hanging in them. I know our neighborhood has numerous houses. I'm just gonna show a couple examples here of houses that had heart designs we found on our daily walks. It really adds interest and it makes my kids so excited to take walks and get outside. It makes all of us smile. And then you can also go, there's like a group, and I'll link to it in the description of this video. It's a group, hashtag, a world of hearts, and you can share your photo to be shared with all the other people doing this together. It's just such a wonderful way to stand together in solidarity, and especially within your own neighborhood, it's a wonderful way to cheer each other up. The second idea I have for you is that you can write an encouraging message at the end of your driveway or on the street by your house. Me and my kids grabbed out the chalk. You can even find like DIY chalk recipes if you don't have any at your house. And we went to work creating a message of hope, and I wrote stay strong on our street right in front of our house. And although we live on a cul-de-sac that doesn't get walked very often, I still think this is just a very sweet way to encourage your neighbors and give them something to do when they're out on their daily walk, when the landscape changes, and especially changes in positive ways. It just brightens everybody's day. Okay, now the third and final idea is for you to make use of your little library. If you don't know what this is, it's pretty popular around where I live. Hopefully it is where you are too. It's a little wooden box. Somebody just takes it upon themselves to build. And it's installed typically in people's yards or parks or neighborhood community spaces. And it's used to exchange books. So you can bring some books and put them in there that you don't use anymore to share with your neighbors. And then anybody at will can take books from it to enjoy at home. And there's no obligation to bring them back to the little library. It's just totally free. It's just a sharing of resources. You can even add something else in the little library you think might help out your neighbors during this difficult time. If you don't have a little library near you or you're thinking you really need a uplifting project to work on right now, then I would encourage you to build your own little free library for your yard or your community because they sure bring a lot of joy and happiness to especially the kids. But this is also a great opportunity for adults to share chapter books and lift each other up. The ways that we come together as a community and hold strong during this difficult time really define us. And I know that some of my followers are watching from areas of the world that are deeply impacted and have fewer resources to fight the medical stresses of COVID-19. And for that, I just want to tell you that the world is behind you. A world of hearts goes out to you. And I hope everybody watching this video is doing their best to stay healthy and stay home. Thank you so much for watching. Don't forget to share this, guys. The more we spread the word, the more love and positivity and creativity we can give to each other. We'll catch you next time on Welcome to the Woods.