February 2020 started out and ended with a bang. For me, February was full of decadence, fun, and meaningful accomplishments. February was a great month. March seemed very promising as well, the beginning of some great new things continued, and then mid March life was put on a screeching pause. Well actually worse than pause, all of a sudden form going 100+ mph and covering great distances, life seemingly turned into ‘go stand in the corner.’ What? And to this point, I stop and think, “What just happened, I was having fun, new experiences, and achieving?” It’s like a bad sci-fi movie based nightmare, that you desperately want to wake up from. But instead, daily you find that this is reality without a clear conclusion. I have lived through crises, uncertainty and ambiguous times, but this seems very eerie.
And in grieving the temporary loss of all the things you loved about your life, you go through a highly accelerated grieving process -your life is no longer your life as you shaped and built it.
Denial, – this really isn’t happening, the virus (yes everyone knows Covid-19) is not that bad-too much catastrophic news, can’t be….
Anger-as they say in Dr. Zhivago – “the personal life is dead”-can’t go anywhere or see anyone (unless you happen to be in a happy partnership…in may ways “in this life you’re on your own” – Prince)
Bargaining-I can take calculated risks, it’s my freedom, I live a healthy lifestyle, until you realize no, it’ s not fair putting others at risk, and this is a horrid virus that you don’t recover from by laying around the sofa-and you should not over tax the health system…it will not end well
Depression-what’s the point of achieving anything or building anything if it will be just be torn down and taken away?
Acceptance-this is how it is, it’s temporary, people have been through worse (e.g., war and revolutions) – be grateful that you have food, work, comfort, virtual ways to meet and so forth and be yourself.
This accelerated cycle occurred, for me over the past few days. I normally love working remotely, but not right now with what’s going on in my career…I really wanted to be at work in person.
So I started thinking, what do I blog about. Decadence and all that seemed inconsiderate….not now. So I did not write a post this weekend, mostly because I was right before the acceptance state. Watching the news and constant news notifications just leads to anger an anxiety. The optimal amount of information is tough and if you overdose on news….this grieving process will take longer.
But today, I concluded this accelerated grieving cycle, woke up thinking that I should make the most of this, accept, adapt, build, achieve, have fun and be decadent while at it. Help others think through these horrid times (yes, there are worse-look what people in other parts of the world continually go through). I have to be a thought leader in my profession so why not in this.
This post is not preachy and how to deal with these times. Everyone has to find what works for them. Some enjoy being the recluse some don’t.
I do find virtual tools very helpful, zoom, facetime, WhatsApp, etc. and creating ig stories with crazy music and/or even doing videos (that’s next, but it needs to be original and engaging). There is something to be said for a two way dialogue and hearing someone’s voice, laughter and seeing their facial expressions and eyes. So for me it has to be a two way engaging interaction to even come close to the in person experience. So I am still thinking through where I can be effective and add value (this situation is not going to be over real soon so I have plenty of time). When the right idea hits, I will know it. I think many will experience personal growth from this experience. Some won’t, and once this is over they will regress into their old patterns.
My original post was going to be about watches, how I got into horology and the whole ‘watch scene.’ But, this post is long enough already.
I think it’s really important to inspire and help others get through this bad time. Educate in all aspects. Not everyone is an expert on tech collaborative tools or can even imagine how useful and what a difference they make. I do have insights because I use these tools at work and some around me do as well. But why limit these tools to work (where I am a key advocate for video)? I think the two way engagement is great and needed even for us who are truly introverts but are mistaken for extroverts because we master these tools daily.
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.
Darwin
So adapt to change, survive, in your own way, grow from this experience, help and inspire others get through this and adapt as well. Not everyone has the courage to lean into this and adapt, they often need a little help, and as you help them, they will feel valued and find their way.
But I, like many others, cannot wait to get my freedom back….
Decadent Life 