Alexis Senge JohnsonWe are in a strange new reality nowadays. Entire countries are on lockdown or, at the very least, practicing social distancing. It seems like most of those I know across the globe are either working from home or temporarily laid off. Regardless, we are all facing the unknown and we all need one another…in a six feet apart kind of way.
I come from many years in the entertainment and event industries and I feel helpless watching so many of my connections struggling through a reality that involves not knowing when they will have a paying gig again. On the flip side I have connections like myself, working from home with a zoo of animals and/or children while desperately trying to maintain professional composure as dogs bark and Paw Patrol is blaring in the background. It’s rough on either side and I think it’s time that we all start showing each other a little bit of compassion amid COVID-19.
Everyday there’s a new CDC or WHO recommendation that rolls out to designate more companies to close their doors or change policies as fast as they can to comply. Each day brings another source of unknowns, like why on earth did people stock up on so much toilet paper? How are truck drivers supposed to eat on the go and keep up with high demands when walk-in service has been stopped in most places and they can’t drive their trucks through the drive-thru? Was the movie Tangled trying to warn us of impending boredom by showing us how lame quarantine was for Rapunzel in her kingdom of…(look it up and your mind will be blown)? We will never know for sure, but the one thing we all probably have become familiar with right now is anxiety.
Anxiety over how to pay bills or, if you’re like me, how to get the medicine my kids need when they suddenly get sick and the shelves are swept clean. Although we can’t gather in groups of more than 10 and we’re all supposed to stand six feet apart, we need each other more than ever to get through this without losing our minds. We need to remember that even in times of crisis that laughter and exercise can be the best medicine for keeping the negativity of the situation at bay.
“Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.” – Elle Woods
I see people live streaming everything from story hour at the library and animal encounter tours to fitness and cooking classes, all in an effort to make people smile and forget about their troubles for a minute or two. What can you offer society? Do you have a skill or trade? Are you humorous, appropriately or inappropriately, because what does it really matter at this point? Can you offer support by helping a neighbor who has eight kids at home and is about to explode because they only have one laptop to do their work right now, but their eight students will be needing to access it all at the same time for online schooling next week? Can you make a meal for the struggling family in your area that can’t get to their usual assistance programs?
It’s time that we do more than just focus on the anxiety and stress of the situation at hand and instead we compassionately see how we can help others that might be suffering more than us. We are all facing struggles but some are first world problems, like being bored with surfing Facebook all day, while others involve a real fear of being homeless or without food due to a lack of pay right now. Share some of that toilet paper you’re hoarding! Lets be honest, did you need 240 rolls? Trade board games with another household that’s also been on lock down. We can make this situation the best it can possible be if we help each other.
Maybe that’s the lesson we are all meant to learn from this. Are we meant to see that the world’s daily pollution has dropped dramatically? Are we meant to see how sea- life is returning in areas it previously fled? Are we meant to change our habits in how we look at the world, go about our day, and treat others? Who knows! One thing is for sure, we will learn something from this and it’s up to us to either accept COVID-19’s lessons and evolve or walk back into the fresh air one day obstinately unchanged.
