“Don’t squander this. Let it make you more tender.
Let it rewrite what matters. Let it bring you closer
to all you love, to all you could lose.
Let it bring you to your knees.”
— Heather Lanier
The World is changing around me while I shelter in place.
For more than two months our routines have been interrupted. Our peace of mind jarred. Our attention focused on a virus we are unable to see and maybe feel (until it is too late). We are learning to live alone or with our immediate families. We are changing our schedules, our plans, and the way we work and live.
At first I thought it was to be a short trip and a new experience that we would all return from and pick up our lives.
After a few weeks, I realized it was not a sprint but was to be a marathon for which I had not completely prepared or was mentally ready. I focused on making that mental shift and re-establishing my expectations. I grounded myself by asking other people how they were approaching this imposed marathon of racing and pacing against an unseen competitor.
I drew strength and confidence from their wisdom and common sense. I find my energy, focus, and forward motion each morning as I see how individuals and organizations have embraced the challenge as an opportunity. Some people have adopted the word ‘pivot’ to describe the changes that are being created; but I would go bigger: We are experiencing a tsunami of transformation.
It is happening rapidly. It is happening quietly. It is happening without much angst or resistance. And for the most part the change response is all for the positive.
This week, I did something that felt like the ‘old normal.’ I needed to visit an attorney’s office as the Power of Attorney for a senior friend with dementia. I drove through a quiet downtown Cleveland. I love the short six mile drive along the lake towards the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and Brown’s Stadium. As I made my way through nearly empty streets, it felt like it should be the early morning hours before the world was stirring; but it was almost mid-day. I parked in a tall structure in which construction repair was continuing. The people who are working are construction and repair people. The projects of road and building construction and repair are happening in our absence.
I travel in an empty elevator. I see hand sanitizer stations around every corner. As I enter the downtown office building, I am directed by signage. There is an eastbound and westbound walking path and barriers to channel me safely through the building. There is a security guard and building receptionist both masked greeting me cheerfully. There have been many changes to the building interior since my last visit. I now tell an automatic elevator button to which floor I am traveling. It tells me which of the elevators I should enter. The two squares on the floor cue me where I should stand and the elevator whisks me to the floor without any buttons to be pushed. This kind of automatic elevator always unnerves me just a bit.
The hallways of the building are empty. I do my work with masked attorneys in a large conference room that looks out over a quiet cityscape. I am grateful to advance the important initiatives for my friend. I am grateful that we can do our work safely. I am grateful for all the big and little changes that are happening in our world to make it a safer place for us to work and live.
I continue to be amazed by the significant transformations that are occurring quietly and quickly as we rise to the challenge.
As I make my way out of the building, transported by the auto-elevator, I walk past a couple of people entering the building on the other path headed in the opposite direction. There is a kinship to this walk. In our masks we smile, walk past each other and almost high-five. I can feel the mutual feeling of ‘We are in this together.’
The entire experience feels like an apocalyptic movie. Yet, it is just the world changing, adapting, and responding to new expectations. Every day is different with change, yet routine in its sameness.
• What are you observing?
• What changes are you making in your new habits?
• What changes are you introducing in your home and workplace?
• How are you and those around you responding to all of this dramatic and necessary change?
• What can you celebrate in this transformation?
We have an opportunity to reinvent ourselves. To refresh our lives with intentional change.