Open Your Home

    I think that once the pandemic is truly over, it's time to start thinking about treating ourselves to vacations. The gift economy is a really helpful concept for the budget-conscious, and it can help you, too. It may be time to reexamine everything you thought you couldn’t do and see if there is another way. Vacationing is a good example- you can trade homes and explore what you could not afford before, while offering the same in return. This free accommodation exchange will give you a really unique and much more personal view of a new place as well as a way to connect with people who live there. The idea is not new; Servas International (servas.org) was founded in 1949 and is recognized by the United Nations as a hospitality network. Check out the wildly successful and well organized CouchSurfing (couchsurfing.org) and Hospitality Club (hospitalityclub.org). And take time to look around the web; there are many similar, smaller initiatives online catering to the budget traveler or people wanting to take a volunteer vacation in another hemisphere.

Free Hugs for All!

    Covid has been hard for those of us who thrive off of hugs. So once everything is lifted, be an indiscriminate hugger. When I first moved to California, I was bit taken aback by all the feelings of comfort, contemned, and security. Hugs are one of the most beautifully human things we can do, and it's definitely on the top of everybody's list once this pandemic is over. So prepare yourselves by hugging what you can around your house, whether it be your pet, a pillow, or a stuffed animal lying around!

Make Beautiful Music

    If you're a musician living in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Nashville, or Miami, you can volunteer through the nonprofit Musicians on Call (musiciansoncall.org) to deliver live, in-room or virtual Zoom performances to patients underdgoing treatment or unable to leave their beds. With so many people in hospitals because of coronavirus, why not bring some good-hearted tunes back into their lives? Add a dose of joy to a healthcare facility by bringing the healing power of music to people who need it.

Go Forth and See the World

    Things are starting to get back to normal, and vacation plans are beginning to ramp up in numbers again. And after this past year, it's important to remember the importance of traveling, even if it means still wearing a mask and having hand sanitizer on your person after getting the vaccine.

    I am reminded of the peripatetic Phil Cousineau that travel is a very important tool for lasting happiness and creating memories to savor over a lifetime. Phil, author of essential guides to making travel meaningful, The Art of Pilgrimage and The Book of Roads, says its important to "go out of your way," and meet people that are native to the place you're visiting. He also reminds us to give gifts, simple tokens from your homeland, and gestures of goodwill that will be returned a thousandfold.

    Over 2,000 years ago, the sage Lao Tzu remarked, "The longest journey starts with a single step." Phil says to use "the eyes of the heart" when traveling to learn something about yourself and the wide world around you. Here are some of Phil's recommended practices for making travel meaningful:

    Imagine your first memorable journey. What images rise up in your soul? They may be a childhood visit to the family gravesite, the lecture your uncle gave at a famous battlefield, or the hand-in-hand trip with your mother to a religious site. What feelings are evoked by your enshrined travel memories? Do they have any connection with your life today? Have you ever enshrined travel memories? Do they have any connection to your life today? Have you ever made a vow to go someplace that is sacred to you, your family, your group? Have you ever imagined yourself in a place that stirred your soul like the song of doves at dawn? If not you, then who? If not now, when? If not here, where? Paris? Benares? Memphis? -Uncover what you log for and discover who you are.

    If you are traveling soon, make sure you are still practicing guidelines! Mask up, sanitize your hands, and keep six feet apart.

Treat People Well

    With the pandemic, it can be challenging to share something you worked hard on with people in your life. Like bringing homemade goodies to work. Even with social distancing and operating from our homes, for many of us, we work five days a week digitally with the same people for the same amount of hours. We need a sweet reward once restrictions are lifted, so what could be more uplifting than arriving the first day back to work to the sight and smell of baked goods or snacks? Make something that people would enjoy, such as chocolate chip cookies or banana break. The work environment will become much more warm and inviting than ever before, and making others feel good after a pandemic will be one of the truest pleasures in our lives.

National Solo Vacation Day

     With the pandemic, it can be hard to plan a vacation, even if it's by yourself. But why not plan ahead?! Pick a town, state, or country that you always wanted to go to and go there, alone! Think about it: you can make your own schedule, wake up when you want, stay out, stay in, and eat what you feel like. It can be your reward for quarantine since last year! So start planning your chance at making a memory that will last you a lifetime and add to the story of your life.

A Mission of Importance

    When I lived in the Lower Haight neighborhood of San Francisco, I drove for a food bank for AIDS patients in my rusted-out little car that I brought all the way from West Virginia. I had arrived in the mid-eighties, which we may all remember as the height of the AIDS crisis. One early morning, I was walking to the Church Street MUNI station and there was the food bank, with giant pink letters announcing itself as a place to lend a hand for the AIDS crisis. I went in and within two minutes had a shift and assignments for the week. Everyone in there seemed extremely cool to me. They were not grim at all, but seemed to have a mission of importance. It seemed such a small way to help during that scary time. I learned that regardless of what you can give, large or small, it is important to give of yourself. And it all does add up!

    Feeding America is the largest hunger relief organization in the United States and they need you.  Please visit feedingamerica.org to find your local food bank or hunger organization. Get involved- you'll make a difference and you'll make friends along the way. I sure did, and they remain my friends to this day.

Love Lifts You Up

     If you have a frequent flier miles you are not planning to use because of the pandemic, give them to service members who have been injured in the line of duty and need to be flown to proper medical treatment. This can also enable family members to visit them as soon as it's okay to fly again. Check out fisherhouse.org to discover all you need to know about Fisher House Foundation's Hero Miles Program. Love has an enormous power to heal, so sharing your unused miles stretches your love a mighty long way!