Five ways to spread kindness and joy during COVID-19

Posted on 1 April, 2020

This is hard, isn’t it?

So many of us have lost our jobs or large chunks of income. People we know are ill and may die. We’re separated from loved ones interstate and overseas.

We’re negotiating difficult family circumstances—like shared custody of children while trying to socially isolate.

We’re worried about how to educate our kids at home while working. Or we live alone and just feel cut off from our community. Friends are crying on the phone every night.

Stress and anxiety levels are high. As the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases rises, the Government introduces stricter lockdown rules. None of this is easy.

But one amazing thing has happened—all over the world, pockets of hope are springing up. People are finding ways to connect and support each other through this crisis.

Here are five ways to spread the #KindnessPandemic (check out the hashtag on social media.)

Put teddies in your windows

This isn’t just an anxious time for parents, it’s a worrying time for children too. However, we can still take kids out for exercise and get their mind off things—and we should!

All over the world, people are putting rainbows or soft toys in their windows for kids to spot while they are out walking. And kids simply delight in it. They laugh and squeal with excitement when they spot a toy.

My kids kept track of how many they spotted in a little notebook. The Facebook group “Going on a Bear Hunt Australia” currently has more than 16,000 members. Join the fun!

Send a letter or card 

I’ve just written a news feature for the ABC about the pending mental health crisis because of COVID-19. Social distancing is actually a ticket to social isolation—but we can keep in touch!

We can call on the phone or using video apps like Skype, FaceTime and Zoom. My kids can’t visit their Nan at the moment, but we did make her cards and put them in her letterbox while we were out walking. (Although no unnecessary car trips are advised at the moment!).

There are also great apps for making postcards on your phone that arrive in the post in real life. They are fun and cheap. My favourite app of this type is called Touchnote—but there are plenty of similar ones.

Offer to get groceries or medicine for other people

With the rapid spread of COVID-19, even going to the store has become an anxiety-ridden affair. Official Government advice warns that: “Older people over the age of 60, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people over the age of 50, are at greater risk of more serious illness with COVID-19.” Among other advice, people in this group are asked to avoid non-essential travel and get the chemist to deliver medicines.

What can you do to help? Fitness instructor Amy, 41, says she banded together with others in her community to get essential items.

“We are in a small group of family [and] friends who are shopping for each other. One person goes and gets stuff for everyone and drops on their doorstep instead of risking many trips to shops. It’s small but protects the more vulnerable among us.”

Join a mutual aid group

COVID-19 has changed society as we know it—probably forever. As we see thousands of people dying around the globe, we’re scared. But the human spirit is strong—and many of us are finding new and creative ways to respond and connect with our communities. This is why thousands of new so-called “mutual aid” groups have popped up around the world.

These groups are using every mechanism you can imagine—letterboxing, social media platforms and apps—to connect with each other and give support for those who are ill or in self-isolation. They are offering emotional and practical support. You can read more about this movement here.

Peta, who lives on the Southside, has joined her local mutual aid group. She says: “I’m doing some shopping and cooking for some lovely peeps who have been isolating for the last week due to health and disability. And just chatting to them online [and] saying hello.”

Peta says a woman she’s helping is, in turn, helping others by making hand sanitiser and face masks at home: “I’m helping her but she’s helping others and it’s quite beautiful.”

Get creative!

There are all kinds of ways to help other people. You don’t have to stop at these suggestions.

My beloved friend and neighbour, Rachel, is an amazing seamstress. She’s currently sewing face masks for about 40 people. While she stresses these aren’t medical-grade—they are purely designed to stop people touching their faces—they certainly do come in handy for a supermarket visit. Rach isn’t taking money for her masks but is only accepting “home-baked biscuits, veggies, chocolate or toilet paper in exchange..”

Rachel.