I think the word for this week is adaptation. There comes a point when things change in a situation where you realize you’re in the thick of it and it’s time to just hold on for the ride.
You’ve battened all the hatches, stocked up your disaster kit, turned off the electricity, and pulled out the battery powered equipment you’ll need to withstand the storm. And now it’s time to wait. Wait for the storm’s worst to hit, wait for the eye, wait to get to the other side.
Like walking down a very long tunnel where we don’t see the light at the end, we are now walking down the tunnel that is the coronavirus time. We’re all home alone together because of it. This isn’t a state we would have voluntarily chosen.
Though for some people it is a relief from the hurly burly of the real world to have just these four walls to navigate. A relief to have only one way that other people can enter your space – through your digital tools instead of through walking into your room or your office, or calling you to come over for a talk, or waylaying you on your way to the bathroom, or selling cookies in the parking lot, or knocking on your door to sell you a vacuum cleaner.
Here I control the input, I control how the rest of the world invades enters my space.
My hope faltered in the early weeks and I was frantic to find the smallest thing to flicker a light in the dark of the confusion and uncertainty that seemed whipped up like a sudden dust devil.
Over the weeks, more and more people searched for hope as well, and we’ve gathered together the good news, the good things, the hope we see in people helping people.
And this movement continues to build. Yes, there is bad news and people are still getting sick and dying and jobs have disappeared. And where are all the tests we need? No, we don’t see a true end in sight, yet, a time to reopen. But we can continue to offer support and gratitude for the good that is happening. And share good things with others.
I was interested in a burst of articles recently on how Generation X “was made for this.” This opinion piece by Meghan Gerhardt looked into the way the different generations – Boomer, X, Millennial, and Zoomer – are all responding to social isolation. It does seem that Generation X has experienced quite a few things that give us the unique skills required for sheltering in place. To paraphrase one tweet she shares, we’ve survived various epidemics, wars, and economic bailouts and recessions.
But we are also in a life stage that increases our motivation to be role models for staying at home. She mentions the sandwich generation thing, which while real isn’t quite my experience. But I have noticed among friends and people I know a frustrated wonderment at parents and grandparents who don’t seem to want to stay home.
Gerhardt’s insightful piece looks at why Boomers are so optimistic yet distrustful while Zoomers and Millennials are more socially connected, were raised with more hectic schedules, and place more value on face to face interaction. With our Generation X latch-key childhoods, we already know how to shelter in place.
And while we shelter-in-place, what do we do with ourselves, our fears and worries? You may have seen this COVID-19 Zone Chart already. It is a variation on other circles of personal growth and it’s hard to determine the original creator, but I found one possible source here.
I like how it provides concrete actions for people to take depending on which zone they either can’t help but find themselves, or hope to be in within the circle.
It does not encompass all of the feelings that can be triggered by the current situation and it doesn’t try to give all of the answers. It is a tool, a little like a compass, that points to a direction for calm, hope, and courage in adapting to this new world.
One of the statements in the Growth Zone of this chart is “I keep a happy emotional state and spread hope.” That one really stood out for me and is what I aspire to, and remind myself of, after I’ve checked the latest news (briefly) and felt the recurring frustrations at how we all got into this mess.
With that goal in mind, here is Vinheterio’s Top 9 Movie Scores played by The Staring Band. It’s both fascinating and fun to watch, especially if you like movie scores like I do.
For a lighter more hopeful feeling, watch Quarantine through ART, a one minute illustration of our new world through art. Its message is simple: “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.”
I would qualify that reminder with this one: make them count through attention and awareness. Not through being the most productive person you can be. Not with the pressure to write a bestselling novel or learn a new language before we all go back to work.
As with any other day or any other time. Be here now. Be present. Listen to yourself.
Moment by moment, adapt to the world that is, and make it the world you desire for it to be.
