“The bad news is time flies.
The good news is you’re the pilot.”
— Michael Altshuler
Do you find yourself having conversations that reflect on things in the past? Remember when we used the fax machine? Remember landline phones with cords? Can you remember your life before computers?
To appreciate the speed of change and our ability to adapt, I used to try to think of all the many changes my grandmother experienced in her lifetime….vaccines, automobiles, the right to vote, refrigerators, milk delivery and so much more. As I pour through boxes of my mother’s photos, I find that I am reflecting on all that has been experienced by my parents, their siblings, my grandparents, and more. It helps me keep things in perspective.
I like to take a mental journey to the places I have lived and review some of my most vivid memories. I remember our black-and-white television that held my attention as reports from Vietnam were announced. I had a P.O.W. bracelet that I wore to acknowledge and hold the soldier in front of my mind. I wanted to drop out of high school to adopt a Vietnamese orphan and my mother wisely proposed that instead, I could teach English in the evenings to the refugees at the school of which she was Dean. If I would agree to this and stay in school, she would set it up. I was glued to the coverage of the Kent State riots and shooting from my home in Pittsburgh; I wanted to take a bus to help in the calming.
I wonder if this recent reflection is an aspect of aging or just my active mind.
As I walked into my favorite Heinen’s grocery store the other day, I was struck by the memory of queuing up in line on dots on the ground six feet apart during the first year of the pandemic. I never migrated to using grocery delivery because I love to wander up and down the aisles. Now, I just saunter in and grab a cart.
I tried to remember all the other changes we rapidly adopted in that first year. Overnight, Plexiglass dividers separating us from everyone appeared everywhere. Individuals followed the directions to stay home and stay in. I smile as I think of my extroverted self-driving solo, and doing everything with just me for company.
We embraced new ways of working and new technology. We dealt with our fears, experienced some loss, carried the weight, knew grief, and ‘soldiered’ on. It sounds so British, “Keep Calm, Carry On.”
I have my own version of this steady message, “Let Go and Let Come.” I don’t always stay in this peaceful place. I am just as likely to let loose with some very exuberant foul language. I have several favorite words. How about you?
Thank heavens for the pack of dogs and the cat. For neighbors and friends. For clients who dedicated themselves to keeping their employees safe and their companies purring.
I have lost track of the duration of this phase of change in our lives. So much has happened in the world beyond just the pandemic.
I would observe that we have passed through the seasons three times and are on our fourth lap. Many strange and violent weather events, wars, political changes, economic ups and downs, inventions (A.I. might be writing this blog for me), and so much more.
At the same time, we have hunkered down, frozen ourselves in separation, and lost some of our community connection.
As we move through this winter and arrive in the following spring, I realize the work I am doing in organizations is about finding the gift of community and connection. It may be efficient to work remotely but are we also losing something essential to the human experience?
In our effort to first be safe and then function in a new way of working and living, we have let go of seeing the whole and ourselves as a true system. In the process, I am discovering the bumps and bruises that we unintentionally cause when we are not working side by side.
I am encouraging us to unfreeze, explore the new terrain in our lives, find ways to reconnect, and work our common ground.
It is time to greet each other with a “Sawu Bona!” “I see you!” and maybe share a story or two that begin with:
“Remember when we….. ?”
Leslie
“I have great respect for the past.
If you don’t know where you’ve come from,
you don’t know where you’re going.
I have respect for the past,
but I’m a person of the moment.”
— Maya Angelou
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