All I need is 8 minutes… and a pineapple

by Dorine Reinstein

Today marks 207 weeks of writing the Monday Musings. That's 1449 days of navigating the glorious chaos that life has been since the pandemic.

How did it all start? As the Big Ambitions team, we wanted to inject some clarity, empathy, and humour in an upside-down world. (We even had a Monday Musing called: “Have you tried looking at it upside down?”)

I mean who else was crazy enough to try and explain the government’s rules. We shared in-depth analyses of why flip-flops were a public health hazard and why roast chicken suddenly became a black-market delicacy.

And who could forget the whirlwind of Tiger King memes, the lawyer who became a cat on Zoom, or the brave souls attempting socially-distanced marathons in their living rooms?? (Side note: respect for those who didn't trip over the coffee table in their quest for Olympic glory).

And - of course - you could count on Big Ambitions to share the best pineapple slushy recipes. Even though we should probably have disclosed that one of our recipes almost blew up the kitchen. (I won’t reveal who in the team made that epic fail).

Our very first Monday Musings was titled: "More apart than ever, yet ever more connected". Four years later, it seems that whole "connected" thing has taken a bit of a backseat.

Natalia Rosa recently shared a LinkedIn post that really hit home for me. Allowing herself to think back to the pandemic, she said:

“Many of you put on a brave face, steered your teams and industry through chaos with extraordinary grace, were there unwaveringly for others even as you wrestled with your own fears and challenges behind the scenes.

Some of you processed that trauma as we came out on the other side.

But for others, I know you buried a lot of what you went through. You put on a mask, threw yourself into work, and kept being strong for everyone else.

<…>

Lately though, the cracks are starting to show. The masks we wore so well are starting to slip and the fear of what that means is starting to creep into conversations with each other, a good thing I think.

Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is let people see us, cracks and all. Because in that shared vulnerability, we see what lies between the lines.”

The terms "pandemic," "COVID," and "recovery" are starting to rank right up there with “pivot” and “resilience” on the "words I never want to hear again" list. But some of us just need a little extra time to unpack all that baggage. We need more time to process and heal.

So, I would like to propose something simple: 8 minutes.

When somebody’s struggling, all they need is 8 minutes of help or support from a friend to get them back on track. So, Simon Sinek came up with a brilliant code to text a friend: do you have 8 minutes? It means: I need you. Because, anybody can step out of a meeting for 8 minutes to be there for a friend.

...And hey, if 8 minutes aren't enough, I'm sure we can still rustle up a pretty awesome pineapple slushy as you chat! ??

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