Hard Lessons

As we head full steam into…. can I say it now… the end … of a very bad 14-ish months, would you give me 60 seconds? Not to wax poetic or get too sentimental, but to discuss what we got right this past year. Yup, right.

The pandemic really taught us all so many things. No exception here. Here is what I learned about myself.

First, I am a hugger. Didn’t realize it until hugs were cancelled.

Second, I am a horrific germophobe. Well, I kind of knew that. The next one, though, really got me.

I like routines. I do. For someone who has traveled her whole adult life and is surrounded both personally and professionally by diverse people who do widely diverse things and live considerably different lives, I like a routine. Hmmm.

Routines aren’t all bad, right? No. What is bad is when you don’t realize it is time to break from one.

The pandemic busted our routines to pieces. We had no choice, so we made room for change, and some big changes at that.

To meet the challenges, we innovated, we asked more questions, and we were open to more answers. And we were all doing it together.

For my clients, my family and me, while it was a scary time, it was strangely invigorating. We did things. We surpassed goals. We rallied around each other. We listened to different opinions and actually incorporated them in our plans. There were literally no dumb questions. There was nothing off the table. And it was awesome. 

It was my dream scenario (albeit couched in the nightmare that was the pandemic). Everybody’s mind was open, and we were collectively ready to take action.

But is one year enough time to turn the tide, to change routines, to keep those minds open, and not revert back to the way we were? I’m seeing the backsliding all around me, and it saddens me deeply.

I can’t wait to lose the masks for good. I can’t wait to hug heartily and travel freely. But I can wait for all those hard lessons we learned this past year to be in vain. I hope I have to wait forever to go back to a time of less creativity, less open-mindedness and more routine thinking.

We can all wait for that.

In those darkest days of the pandemic, lots of light was shining in those Zoom calls and curbside pickups, even if we didn’t see it as they occurred. Let’s take this moment to reflect on it right now and make so many of those changes part of a long-lasting routine before it’s lost. Many of us made progress both personally and professionally. It was a once-in-a-generation moment that gave us all a blank slate to do better and to be better.

But will we?