I will admit this last couple of weeks have been a struggle. I am not really doing poorly, its just I am not really doing anything. It is as if all personal motivation has been sucked out of my body. Occasionally, I summon some oomph to head to the kitchen and throw some things together, but they are hurried, disorganized affairs. Even making old stand by feels like the first time through–what comes after I add this? How long do I cook this again?

I have tried a little good old fashioned escapism to cope with this current blah nothingness. To date, I spent a week on a deep dive into the tv show the Ozarks. (I will be frank and say I do not recommend that for a mood lift, the superb Jason Batemen notwithstanding.) I read a book by a favorite author but found myself having to reread pages and just not really transported in the way I usually am. I also tried multiple sessions of online shopping, but never actually bought the things that amassed in my cart. Finally perhaps the most diverting, but ultimately unfulfilling, I have spent hours on Zillow playing a game of “anywhere but here,” the real estate version. Where should we run away to? It is always great until reality comes crashing back.

Since escapism wasn’t getting it done for me, I decided maybe I needed to try the opposite with some dedicated present-ness. I kept feeling like I just needed a little mantra to get me through. You can rely on me to think words will fix it. I wanted to have something to focus on. So I have settled on the following: Hands in dough and music on.

At first glance, it is not that impressive of a mantra. It is almost more of an instruction manual, yet it suits the mood. Spoiler alert, the words alone don’t fix it, but the actions they command do help. Let me break it down a bit.

Hands at work are important. They are not the past or the future. They are in the moment and they are doing something. When I am working with my hands, it grounds me at that precise time. I am doing this thing right now. When working with dough, there is this simple pleasure of the feel of the dough and the rhythm of working it that is soothing to me.

I think the dough also works because I really can’t multi-task well while up to my elbows in dough. It almost feels indulgent to just stand at the counter and focus completely on one thing. Does the dough have the right consistency? Is it coming together well? How is it moving under my hands? How does it feel? Working with dough hits the sweet spot between requiring enough of my brain to be engaged, but also not so much that it shouldn’t be attempted amid a pandemic.

Which brings us to the second part of my mood and motivation hack–music on. Listen, if given too much time to think freely, I can really get into it. I can spin stories in my head about the future therapy my kids are going to need because of this year or ponder if I will ever again be able to deliver a loaf of bread to someone who isn’t expecting a knock on their door. This is not fruitful thinking. Me playing multi-dimensional chess in my mind will not alter the outcome. It doesn’t even help me prepare for the future. All it does is, at best, spin my proverbial wheels, and at worst, ratchet up anxiety.

So music it is. I like to play around with different types, sometimes it is worship music, other times it is Alison Krauss bluegrass, while other times it is Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles. No matter the station, it just needs to be familiar and captivating for my mind.

So that’s it. Hands in dough and music on. It couldn’t be much simpler. I imagine that other people’s mantras might be like–for the gardener: hands in the earth, sunshine on my face, or maybe for the Beachcomber: toes in the sand and the sound and smell of the sea.

I think the sensory factors are what is important in grounding you at the moment. It is almost like going back to the basics of “how do things feel, smell, look, taste, or sound?” that creates the proper meditative state. Of course, how those elements combine and speak to you, what memory they evoke, or the joy they create is also key. You probably already know what that is for you. Maybe you aren’t currently suffering from a great lack of motivation like I am, but if you are, might I suggest a little mindful meditation and mantra to get you up and over the moment?

For me, I plan to simply repeat my mantra until I am propelled to pick a soundtrack and start pulling out ingredients. Hands in dough and music on. What do you know? It feels like a milk bread and a pop dance music sort of day today.