Coronavirus making you bored? Learn to cook.
Senior Jahlea Douglas is an Editor-in-chief for Elkhart Memorial GENESIS who specializes in opinion and feature writing.
March 31, 2020
Whoever thought that I would get tired of staying at home Every. Single. Day. Not me! Until I was forced to.
After waking up around 9 or 10 A.M., 11 on a bad day, going on a run, doing my eLearning assignments, and reading a book, there is usually a ton of time left in the day. So then what? Take a nap? That only lasts a few hours.
How about taking up a new hobby!? The thing that everyone has been suggesting that us teenagers do rather than laying in our beds all day. For me, I decided to start cooking and it truly is fun.
According to Psychology Today, “It’s [culinary therapy] being used as part of the treatment for a wide range of mental and behavioral health conditions, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, ADHD and addiction.”
Not only does cooking help with mental and behavioral health conditions, it also gives me a sense of accomplishment. During this time, we can start to lose our motivation and feel like we are just surviving. But while in the kitchen, nothing else is on my mind than the task at hand and the goal I’m trying to achieve. DO NOT BURN THE FOOD. And once the pressure is over, yes there is pressure while cooking, I feel good about myself because I have created a meal for my family.
Cooking allows me to be in control of what is going on, it allows me to dictate the outcome, something no one can really do at this time. Furthermore, cooking gives me, in a way, the same feelings I get when I am competing in a sport. For example, when I start a sporting event, I have this feeling in my gut, a feeling of nervousness. This feeling can be felt when I’m cooking too because if the meal does not turn out right, then my family starves, until we order a pizza!
Additionally, in both sports and cooking I’m racing the clock, trying to score that last goal before the buzzer or in cooking for instances, trying to finish preparing the ingredients for the sauce before the chicken burns on the other end of the kitchen. They both go hand-in-hand and the best part about it is that my parents are proud of me in both scenarios.
If you are an athlete and miss the rush of sports, if you are someone who struggles with mental and behavioral health conditions, or if you need a new hobby to pick up, I recommend cooking. You will not regret it. Well, unless you burn things frequently…maybe cooking isn’t for you.
The views in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the GENESIS staff. Email Jahlea Douglas at [email protected].
