Folk Rebellion founder Jess Davis has made a career of urging people to find meaningful connections through creativity in this screened-in world - and now seems like a better time to listen to her advice than ever.  Sign up for Folk Rebellion's newsletter here. (And because it's topical, just a reminder that The Big Activity Book for Digital Detox is now available for pre-order.)

The world is suddenly very, very, VERRRRRRRYYYYYY…online.

Yup. Sure! There’s many ways tech is helping us all cope, connect and get the info we need. But there’s also the dark side - which poses all the usual conundrums from tech and digital, but is significantly more magnified in the whole is-the-world-ending? sort of way.

So! Here’s my handy-dandy guide to help YOU manage your tech in trying times, not the other way around.

I'm still out of the country - we're in an area that so far has had no issues getting back to the US, so I'm coming home tomorrow, on the day we originally planned...but I think it goes without saying that I hadn't exactly planned on coming home to this. Our school district - like so many of yours - has announced that it'll be closed at least though the end of April, and if the issues that these closures present for a work-at-home-mother such as myself are overwhelming, I can only imagine what so many others are struggling with. 

Related: How to Keep Your Pets Safe While Driving (huge thanks to Joey from Ms. Parker's class for the submission!)

So let's strategize. Here's a list of ideas and resources for handling this extended period of self-isolating with our kids without going (completely) insane - and thanks to those of you who contributed ideas via my Insta. Keep 'em coming - I'll be updating this list as more arise.

Not gonna lie: I definitely spent a decent percentage of the week before my parents and I left on our annual diving trip obsessively scanning coronavirus-related headlines and buying massive amounts of water. (Buying extra water - as with toilet paper - is completely unnecessary. But show me a mother and a Contagious Thing, and I'll show you a garage stocked with a whoooooooole lot of Dasani.)

I wasn't worried about catching anything, exactly - I was (and still am) worried about some turn of events resulting in me being stranded extremely far away from my children for a duration of time. But the Caymans seemed like a relatively safe pick, planetarily speaking, and I'm also of the mindset that in a situation like this, you collect information and do the best that you can to protect yourself and others, but you also keep on living.

Curious what it's like to travel internationally during this bizarre moment we're living in? I shall tell you: It's weird, but also strangely...pleasant. (I know; I didn't expect that, either.) First of all, airports - and the flights themselves - are vastly emptier than usual, making for a much less cramped in-air experience. There's also this odd sense of camaraderie - even humor - when you travel during a crisis: Everybody knows what everybody else is thinking about, so it's almost like you can communicate in shorthand.

I didn't know Brian Platzer super well in high school - we were in the same graduating class back in New York City - but I always felt like I should have. He was hilarious, and super smart, and one of those people who's nice to everyone, even - especially - the people few others think to be nice to. I'm extremely gratified to announce that High School Me was apparently an excellent judge of character, because Brian has grown into the same hilarious, super smart, and kind person I figured him to be - oh, and he also happens to be one of the decade's best new novelists, NBD.

I was wary of Body Politic when it first landed in my mailbox: I didn't really want to read a novel having anything to do with politics, as I spend most of my day reading about just that, and I'm getting very, very close to that aneurysm I've been expecting since November 2016. I was also wary because I'm very picky about my fiction, and can't bring myself to put the time into finishing an entire novel unless I absolutely have to - meaning because there is no alternative. Because I can't put it down.

I could not put down Body Politic. My life came to a standstill for an entire weekend; everything else just had to wait. And it's not actually about politics, exactly: It's about four friends struggling with the devastating aftermath of a freak accident in the wake of Trump's election.