Groundhog Day!
One of my favorite movies of all time is Groundhog Day. It is a movie that I have seen dozens of times and never turn off when I happen upon it when channel surfing. It is the story of Phil Connors (Bill Murray), who is a miserable weatherman who gets stuck in Punxsutawney, PA, forced to relive the same day (Groundhog Day) indefinitely. During the course of the movie, Phil progresses from denial and anger to humility and acceptance. While in 'captivity,' he learned everything about everyone in town, how to speak French and recite poetry, became a master jazz piano, and even learned to sculpt ice. One of my favorite existential questions is how long was he stuck there to have mastered so many diverse skills??? Most of all, he finally learns to sincerely give of himself, which then releases him from his personal torment.
In a lot of ways, we are in our own version of Groundhog Day. We are trapped indefinitely in a smaller version of the life we created. We are in our homes with a limited number of people and limited options for activity. I have found that initially, I was depressed, angry, and maybe even scared. I find myself doing the same simple things, including reading the papers, watching the news, exploring new shows, and working out. The truth is I am in Phil's first phase of satisfying only my most basic human needs of food, shelter, and water. I am only beginning to focus on self-improvement and barely scratched the surface of sincerely giving of my self. Loupers, let's just see what I can accomplish after a minimum of 30 more days of self-quarantine.
App, Web
Phil Connors realizes that his love interest (Rita, played by Andi Macdowell) is a sucker for French poetry and therefore goes about learning French and memorizing poetry. I am terrible at languages. I must apologize for my past language sins in high school Spanish class (sorry, Senorita Abreu)! No more excuses. I have enlisted the services of Rosetta Stone. Their methods are tried and true. If you have the time, and you know you have the time, you can experience their program in a variety of formats. I use the app, so I can practice while on the go instead of playing Candy Crush! Its proven program teaches languages naturally in a logical sequence that builds upon itself. Incredibly, their system listens to your pronunciation and provides real-time feedback. It is the perfect way to learn and grow a second tongue! Perhaps soon I will be reciting poetry like Phil! Ciao for now.
App
Phill learns to play piano from the local teacher and becomes her prized student. Of course, the teacher doesn't remember him ever coming, but it sets him up to join the quartet during the evening festivities. I never learned to play an instrument, I was more of an "athlete" growing up. However, I love music and have dreams of sitting around a campfire (ok, maybe my fireplace) and playing folk classics on my guitar. As such, I have begun guitar lessons with Yousician. If the guitar isn't your thing, how about the bass, piano, ukelele, or even singing? Yousician believes we are all born musical, far be it from me to prove them wrong.
App, Food
If you don't know how to cook, now is the perfect time to learn. Sure we don't want to be wasteful, so you will need a guide for the perfect recipes and how to prepare them. I have been using Yummly for years, and it contains recipes for almost everything you could ever want to eat. You can search by cuisine, name, specific ingredients, particular diets, and more. The app will generate a shopping list so you can know what you have and what you need. It can even look at what ingredients you actually have and find a recipe that fits your pantry. Most recipes on Yummly walk you through how to prepare the dish in a detailed fashion. Some even have step by step videos for the totally incompetent (like myself). I highly recommend the New York Cheese Cake. I am not sure Phil ever learned how to cook in the movie, but if he had been stuck at home (without his favorite restaurants), he probably would have!
It is only Day 20 of my family's Shelter at Home and I'm only now getting to the self-improvement items. I don't know how long we will be here; I only hope not as long as Phil Collins was stuck in Punxsutawney. All I know is I can’t wait to get to the selfless part. Consider Rosetta Stone, Yousician, and Yummly Found!