Matthew McConaughey Thanks Social Distancing for Family Time: 'My Mental Health and Family Life Are Improving'

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In news that might not seem so surprising, Matthew McConaughey has managed to find calm in the chaos of quarantine.

"I think my mental health and family life are improving," the 50-year-old told reporters recently. "I spend more time in the kitchen with my family preparing meals, eating meals, cooking with my kids. That's been one big advantage, the forced family time. I've gotten to know my kids better."

The actor is hunkered down at home with wife Camila Alves, their three children Levi, 12, Vida, 10, and Livingston, 7, and 88-year-old mom Kay McConaughey. And while he admitted it's not always easy — "We all have our days and we have to allow our days," he said — it's also "been a good thing mentally."

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Speaking to reporters recently about Lincoln's new partnership with the Calm app ahead of #NationalRelaxationDay on Aug. 15, McConaughey said he's giving everyone in his home "a little forgiveness" on their tougher days. "You're all around each other, you're tired, people have moods, the kids have cabin fever, I get cabin fever — people snap a little bit," he said. "This has gone on a while and will go one a while more, so I give everybody a little cushion."

For McConaughey and Alves, it's meant finding "rituals" in every day to create a sense of order in the house. "Every day feels like Saturday," he said of the current situation. "It doesn't seem to matter unless you create some structure. I make sure I break a sweat once a day. I take a drive to nowhere once a day, go have my relationship with music. I'm trying to see this time we're in as bonus time, immediate family and introspection time."

He's also helped his kids discover new sides of themselves. "My children have doubled down and leaned into hobbies they had before COVID that they never really made the time to lean into," he shared. "They've become artists. When we do get out of this and they go back to their friends and school they'll have the confidence in front of them, even if they're the only ones who want to do their hobby, that they'll do their hobby. I don’t think without this time that they would have leaned into those hobbies as much and become so much a part of themselves."

And, as he pointed out, the situation we're in right now isn't forever. "It is going to be all right, all right, all right," he said with a laugh.

Lincoln is offering a complimentary 12-month subscription to Calm through the Lincoln Way app for current owners of a 2000 model year or newer vehicle with a registered vehicle identification number. The subscription period begins from the date of activation via the Lincoln Way app, and the promotion ends on Aug. 12, 2021.