In pandemic, people seek hobbies, home improvements, simple pleasures

With the pandemic restricting movement and upending routines, home has become the hub for … well … just about everything. That shift has prompted what Megan Elias, director of the gastronomy program at Boston University, calls a “radical reimagining” not only of work and home but of life. People are asking, she says, “What is the work of life?”

In response to that question, many are finding creative and productive ways to spend their time stuck at home. Some are taking up new hobbies – from sewing to bread making to guitar playing. Others are completing long-overlooked home improvement projects. For many, these activities afford more than a way to while away the time. They foster calm and even family unity.

Yet, while celebrating these activities, author Anna McGovern would caution against too narrow a focus on results. Instead, she recommends pottering – meandering seamlessly from one task to another without much thought. “[T]he important thing with pottering, she says, “is that you derive pleasure from those things – and they are slightly unnecessary.” Doing inconsequential tasks “can somehow help you feel a bit peaceful,” she adds.  

Anna McGovern has been…