The current state of our world has forced many of us to be stuck inside physically. Mentally, the social distancing measures along with the uncertainty of what鈥檚 to come can cause a lot of unrest and unhappiness. I know I personally have been feeling anxious and nervous when I think about everything going on right now. Even when we weren鈥檛 in such unprecedented times and things were more 鈥渘ormal鈥�, spring has always been a wonderful time to reset mentally. It鈥檚 a season of life and growth; flowers bloom, days are longer and the weather is warmer.

If you are looking for things to keep your mind and body occupied while adhering to physical distancing, explore some of the options below.

鈼� Clean and reorganize spaces in your house.

If the prospect of deep cleaning your entire house seems daunting, simply focus on clearing out an overflowing closet or throwing away old papers on your desk. Decluttering and organizing might help you feel productive and of your situation. journal even found a correlation between people doing dishes and an increase in positive emotions like inspiration and mindfulness and a decrease in negative emotions like nervousness.

鈼� Try an online workout.

In this digital age and with social distancing in full-swing, there is no shortage of online workout classes to choose from. Check out YouTube for some free yoga flows, or find a gym that might be live-streaming a Zumba class. Exercise is linked to many , such as improved mood, decreased anxiety and boosted creativity.

鈼� Plant something.

Getting down in the dirt and growing plants can , reduce stress and increase mindfulness. If you have access to a yard, try planting flowers or vegetables. If you don鈥檛 have a yard, you can always pick up seeds from your local nursery or order them online and start an herb garden on your window sill.

鈼� Create art. Draw, paint, sculpt or write.

Whatever gets your creative juices flowing, try it out! shared that expression through art can improve cognition, reduce stress and promote relaxation. Creating art can also give your eyes a much-needed break from staring at your computer and phone screens.

鈼� Journal.

Writing your thoughts and emotions down on paper can give you a sense of release and an Sometimes, simply writing down your fears and concerns can instantly help you feel more at ease. It can also allow you to examine negative thoughts and potentially identify situations or moments that contribute most to those feelings.

鈼� Talk to someone.

Whether you choose to talk to someone you live with or call a friend or family member, interacting with other people, focusing on topics that aren鈥檛 centered around the news and enjoying the company of others can allow you to feel more social and improve your mood. There are also apps and online tools like where you can speak with licensed therapists if you are seeking professional mental health help.

鈼� Meditate.

There is may ease symptoms of anxiety and depression. In a rapidly moving and chaotic world, many people find comfort in and benefits associated with sitting and focusing on breathing through a guided meditation for a few minutes. If interested, try or an app like Calm or Headspace.

I also feel compelled to end this list with a disclaimer. The activities mentioned above are simply suggestions that might provide some relief to any mental distress you may be experiencing right now. They are not meant to stand in for professional guidance nor do I hope they make you feel anything other than intrigued or inspired to try a new, soothing activity.

Right now many of us are inundated with a seemingly constant, discouraging news cycle. Many have also been under a barrage of encouragement from brands and peers to Viral challenges and lists like the one above may make you feel like you should be as busy as– or even busier than– you were in your pre-quarantine life; baking cupcakes in the morning, running three miles in the afternoon, knitting in the evening and finishing that best-selling book you鈥檝e been meaning to read all before you go to bed.

American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, These needs are physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization. Before we can even begin to work towards feeling confident in who we are (our esteem) and feel we are achieving our greatest potential (self-actualization), we must first ensure our physiological needs and safety. This means we must have food, water and a place to sleep. After that, we need to feel safe and secure, we need a predictable environment that is free from threats and harm.

In the current situation, many people鈥檚 physiological and safety needs feel threatened. If you are worried about getting food, staying healthy or ensuring you have a home to sleep in, it might be very difficult to focus on painting a portrait or feel motivated to clean your closet. Our regular lives and most basic needs are suddenly no longer guaranteed in the way we might have always known them to be.

So before you feel like you need to learn a new skill, pick up a hobby or FaceTime all your friends and family members, focus on meeting your basic needs. Setting even just three simple goals for yourself to achieve in a day, like making your bed, brushing your teeth and eating breakfast, can help you feel more productive and in control of your situation. We cannot move onto meeting our higher needs or even helping others if we have not first prioritized ourselves. Be gentle with yourself and focus on getting through your day, little by little. We can all use a bit more self-love during this strange spring season.

优蜜视频 is here for you.

When Leonardo da Vinci is mentioned, either in an academic setting or in a casual conversation, one of several knee-jerk references usually comes to mind:

• His inventions
• , his painstakingly accurate depiction of the human form
• His influence on the Renaissance as a whole

What is more fascinating about da Vinci than his singular achievements, however, is that his portfolio of accomplishments 鈥� both achieved and never fully realized 鈥� spans more disciplines and fields than any other inventor, scientist, artist or influencer either before or since. (They don鈥檛 call him The Renaissance Man for nothing!)

Not one to rest on his laurels, da Vinci is oft quoted as having said, 鈥�Learning never exhausts the mind.鈥� Did you know he is widely considered to be the father of architecture, paleontology, ichnology and dabbled 鈥� with varying intensity 鈥� in invention, painting, sculpting, architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, writing, history and cartography?

Whatever profession you most associate with da Vinci, here are some fun facts to get you excited about and our upcoming classes.

Simply put, da Vinci loved water and anything associated with it. Though they never came to fruition in his lifetime, da Vinci developed plans for a SCUBA-like underwater breathing device, a life preserver, a diving bell and floating snowshoes.

This fall, Academy is running an NAGC award-winning curriculum course on sustainability, developed by Fellow Shelagh Gallagher, called It鈥檚 Electrifying! Fueling the Future, which focuses on alternative forms of energy, including wave energy and tidal energy.

He also studied the erosion of rivers in Europe and figured out that the earth is older than previously believed, based on a scientific investigation of water and soil samples, maps and journals. Though discredited at the time, due to the cultural climate, da Vinci鈥檚 findings were eventually deemed accurate.

Is your child interested in learning about the universe鈥檚 origin, evolution and current structure? Check out 优蜜视频 Academy instructor Tristan Murphy鈥檚 new class From Dust to Dawn: Constructing the History of the Universe, where students will gain a comprehensive understanding of our universe鈥檚 complex development into what it is today.

da Vinci was a creative writer 鈥� not in the style or vocabulary he chose, but in the physical act of writing he executed. He wrote most of his work from right to left 鈥� the opposite of traditional written print. The result of this writing was a mirror script, which was difficult for most people to read. Historians have postulated that he did so intentionally, in order to keep his writing secret, though it may be simply because he was left-handed, making this unusual writing style was easier.

Check out Academy鈥檚 Saturday class Page One: Creative Writing for an opportunity to delve into language, style, and genre 鈥� and possibly the chance to develop your own mirror script!

Flight was another big area of focus for da Vinci, who is credited as being the first person to study the flight of birds scientifically. He spent considerable time delving into the field of ornithology and used what he observed and analyzed as inspiration to try and replicate wings and flying apparatuses for humans using biomimicry. One of da Vinci鈥檚 designs that he never got off the ground (no pun intended) was the parachute. It wasn鈥檛 until the year 2000 that a South African skydiver finally tested da Vinci鈥檚 design by developing a prototype based on his sketches.

Is your child interested in similar types of STEAM constructs? Be sure to have them join the Tuesday afternoon course STEAM Building: Creative Constructs, where students will design and test things such as marble runs, catapults, parachutes, spaghetti bridges, and much more. Or, have your child try Inventioneers, a class based on genius inventors like da Vinci, where students will play the dual role of inventor and engineer and come up with their own genius invention!

da Vinci believed that sight was mankind鈥檚 most important sense, which is why he focused so heavily on art, architecture, biological studies, sketching and the written word. He is quoted as saying, 鈥淧ainting is poetry that is seen rather than felt.鈥�

Does your child have a knack for design and visuals? Do they enjoy creating appealing graphics and imagery? Be sure to sign them up for Web Design II: Form and Function on Monday evenings, where students will gain the skills needed to transform their own personally-designed website from functional to fabulous.

Though da Vinci鈥檚 list of accomplishments and endeavors may seem overwhelming, there鈥檚 no denying that his is truly a canon of inspiration and motivation. For more information on Genius Day X: Da Vinci: Restless Renaissance Rebel, visit the . This exciting day of learning is open to students in grades 4-8 and will take place at the breathtaking Getty Center on September 30th.

To view Academy course descriptions and register for fall courses, visit the . Apply by August 27^th!

What is your favorite work from da Vinci? Tell us in the comments!

Source: https://www.leonardodavinci.net/

Lisa is the mother of 3 gifted children and lives outside of San Francisco.

My middle son is a junior in high school. It鈥檚 time for him to start thinking about college. To help the process along, his school invited a speaker from to speak to the parents and students. She reminded the parents that the search should be student-centered. To make her point she told stories about over-involved parents who push their children aside during college fairs in order to speak to the admissions officers and those who get their pronouns confused when talking about the application process, as in, 鈥�We are still in the process of writing our 别蝉蝉补测蝉.鈥�

I have never pushed my children, and I am very conscious of which pronoun I use. That said, I was very involved in my oldest son鈥檚 college search, and I plan to do the same for my middle son. My experience has given me sympathy for the parents she ridiculed. It鈥檚 a fine line between over-involved helicopter parent and helpful consultant. But whichever side of the line you fall, there will be consequences for your child and a corresponding label of their own.

My involvement in my children鈥檚 educational decisions is not unlike that of many parents of gifted kids. For the past 10 years, I鈥檝e been helping my children get the resources they need to challenge themselves and feed their passions. In the past, that meant online courses, tutors, extracurricular activities and schools. Two years ago, it meant helping my oldest son find a college. It wasn鈥檛 until he began his college search that I understood how my involvement has influenced the way he thinks about his own education.

鈥淚 want a school with a good visual arts program, but I don鈥檛 want it to focus solely on the object.鈥�

He wanted to paint, draw or sculpt at a school that didn鈥檛 focus on the painting, drawing or sculpture. If you are confused, so was I. Even he didn鈥檛 know exactly what he was looking for. But that didn鈥檛 prevent me from searching for this elusive school. I (yes, I am aware of the pronoun I am using) looked through course catalogues for visual art classes with unique titles, eschewing schools that only offered the vanilla 鈥淧ainting 101鈥� or 鈥淒rawing Techniques.鈥� I looked at their capital expenditures on the arts and made charts detailing their core requirements. We visited colleges on the East Coast and in Southern California where I asked more questions than my son during the campus tours. The accordion files I created for potential colleges bulged.

My search led him to the University of Chicago. He was intrigued by the classes titled 鈥淰isual Language: On Time and Space鈥� and 鈥淧erforming Tableware.鈥� He enrolled last year. When my husband and I delivered him to the campus, we knew that the school would provide a rich academic experience for him. But he wasn鈥檛 done personalizing his education.

At the beginning of his second year, he decided that the majors available at University of Chicago were limiting. So instead of settling for a major that mostly provided what he wanted, he decided to invent his own. He is going to declare a major in Interdisciplinary Studies. This do-it-yourself major allows him to combine studies in the humanities. He is going to craft a major in the fields of anthropology, visual arts, creative writing and psychology. The tentative title of his major is 鈥淪torytelling.鈥�

Just as there are contrasting labels that can be applied to me, you may be tempted to apply one to my son. On the positive side, you could say that he is self-actualizing. On the negative: he feels entitled. While I will argue the former, I will admit that the latter also applies. My interference in his educational experiences led him to believe that he can expect a personalized education plan that feeds his passions, wherever that may take him. This may mean that he will enter a work force that does not value his efforts and that he will spend his twenties living in our basement. On the other hand, he may have developed skills that allow him to pursue a career his father and I have never imagined. After all, there are people making a living creating Google Doodles. Who knew that was a career 10 years ago?

I believe that my intentions are good and that my behavior furthers my children鈥檚 goals. My middle son is going to test that belief. An extraordinary math talent, he doesn鈥檛 want to pursue math in college. He wants the educational equivalent of Sid Meyer鈥檚 Civilization game series鈥攁 program that combines politics, economics, history and philosophy. I am going to do my best not to slip in a math component, but I can鈥檛 guarantee my behavior at this point.

I know that I am both over-involved and helpful. I am certain that my children are seen as both entitled and on the path to self-actualization. Which label you apply to my children and to me depends on your perspective. I suppose the only judgment that really matters is my children鈥檚. If later in life they are leading happy and fulfilling lives, then you can call us whatever you鈥檇 like.

Have you struggled with the fine line between helpful and over-involved? Please share your experience in the comment section below.

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