This family of costume enthusiasts' solution to the quarantine blues? Dress up together every Friday

Pandemic Diaries is a series of personal essays by Canadian writers and artists reflecting on their experiences during COVID-19.

Learn Latin or master Mandarin. Churn out the next Oscar-winning screenplay. Plant a backyard vegetable patch. Create your own clone from the comfort of your bedroom. All in the space of one week.

You don't need to look far for grandiose suggestions on how to quarantine productively during this pandemic — but if your headspace mirrors mine, these kinds of lofty ideas aren't on your radar. And that's fine.

As an escape from the discouraging news cycle, my choice of activity, apparently, is dressing up and demanding my family follows suit. When the advisory was issued to stay home and stop the spread of COVID-19, I immediately began thinking up ways to keep myself and the people with whom I'm quarantining entertained. (Thankfully, we are healthy and mostly working from home.) We have a costume closet in the basement that rivals our own individual wardrobes in size and quality — so it seemed like the perfect time to unearth the riches.

Every Friday, we come to dinner dressed in accordance with a predetermined theme and commemorate the event with a photoshoot, sharing the images on social media with the hashtag #parisellilockdownlooks. Props and accessories are sourced from in and around the house.

An imaginative group, my family has always connected around creative expression. Although both my parents work in advertising, they are artists. My mom studied theatre in university and picks up acting gigs when she can; my dad prefers to paint, sketch and sculpt. Not to be outshone, my brother is a filmmaker. When he's not behind the camera, he works in a long-term care facility.

I have vivid recollections of childhood Halloweens spent with my family as I dressed up as a witch, a wizard and Captain Hook. I can also call to mind recreating a murder scene in our backyard with my brother when we were preteens, documenting the crime in various stages. It was the dead of winter, so the fake blood spattered on the freshly fallen snow gave the images a chilling touch (and something for the neighbours to discuss).

Our pandemic photos haven't stirred quite the same response. People have enjoyed our dress-up nights, and that was one of the aims — to provide some amusement while savouring the process. Even though it sometimes feels like there are too many art directors in the room, we do in fact have fun. It's a distraction for us, and if our antics spur a smile, then we've succeeded.

The first night, Fancy Friday, was rather tame. I designed invitations; we put together dressy looks, sprayed on some cologne and enjoyed a meal on a table set for a classy occasion. It was a mild taste of what was to come.

Next there was Freaky Friday, a theme we were able to fully embrace thanks to our appreciation of the macabre (it should come as no surprise that Halloween is easily our most cherished celebration). A darker evening in terms of the ensembles served, sure, but the playlist we curated — including "Monster Mash" and jams from the Hocus Pocus soundtrack, a family favourite — painted the night with cheerier hues.

Our third night, Flip It Friday, was about becoming another family member. I became my mom, my mom stepped into character as my brother, my brother turned into my dad and my dad had the misfortune of embodying me. Naturally, I relished the chance to throw on a moisturizing face mask.

Film is a thread that connects the four of us, so Film Character Friday felt essential. I leapt at the opportunity to honour the queen Meryl Streep and repurpose an old Halloween costume by crawling into Madeline Ashton's body bag from Death Becomes Her; my brother, ever the monster, paid homage to Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; my mom sashayed into Berlin's Kit Kat Klub as Sally Bowles from Cabaret; and my dad got down and dusty as Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The film reels were traded for rock and roll records with Festival Friday, whereby we turned the clock back to the late 60s and dressed as Monterey Pop/Woodstock-era concert goers. The 10-hour playlist I created, with personal favourites by Joan Baez, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin, has already been enjoyed a handful of times since the bands left the building. Peace, love and music (while staying at home) — one way to survive COVID-19.

We flexed more than just our creative muscles for our sixth night, Fitness Friday. The four of us took the theme in slightly different directions, but my dad's w̶a̶s̶h̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶ cardboard abs might have won him the gold medal. It's been said that keeping fit is important for mental health at this time, which I'd agree with, but have you tried dressing up? The benefits are similar.

Dumbbells and sweatbands were done away with as we took John Denver's country roads home for Farm Friday, fresh outfits aplenty. The arts and crafts department (a.k.a. my dad) brought the field and the barn (a.k.a. my brother) to our living room, leaving enough space for me to stand tall as a stalking scarecrow. Old MacDonald and his farm have nothing on us.

As darkness fell, spotlights burned bright on our most recent venture. We had complete freedom in selecting real-life figures to inhabit for Famous Friday, from the universally beloved to the publicly condemned, the living to the deceased. We avoided the despised, and an eclectic crew convened for dinner. Andy Warhol taking Amelia Earhart's portrait while Isaac Newton muses on the laws of physics and Elvis Presley fills the room with his iconic velvety voice? Sign me up for that party.

No manual exists on managing your time in the midst of a pandemic. If aspiring to great heights and decoding the complexities of UFO encounters is on your horizon, then I raise my glass of rosé to you. If you opt to binge watch TV shows and bake cookies, then go wild. But if you choose to spend your spare time having fun while traipsing around in costume, then I applaud you just as well — my only request is that you share photos.

CBC Arts understands that this is an incredibly difficult time for artists and arts organizations across this country. We will do our best to provide valuable information, share inspiring stories of communities rising up and make us all feel as (virtually) connected as possible as we get through this together. If there's something you think we should be talking about, let us know by emailing us at [email protected]. See more of our COVID-related coverage here.