Capitalize on the Culmination of Your Pre-Pandemic Experiences to Find Your Post-Pandemic Path

Man oh man - its been a time. A mostly strange, awful, weird and heavy with grief...and occasionally wonderful time. Disorienting. Scary. The languishing, confusing, outraging...all the emotions seemingly at the same time - but one of the biggest proverbial anvils swaying over my head I have felt, is the lack of personal agency in the midst of trying to act in the collective interest at the same time the collective failures of so many institutions tasked with leadership.

One thing that has been a constant in my life has been reading and writing. I learned how to read quickly as a kid and have been a voracious reader and writer ever since. From cereal boxes at the kitchen table as a kid and on the Bird app now :) Its always been my thing - but I will admit for the past two years I think I might have finished 2 books (I bought an embarrassingly large stack) and I haven't written much of anything other than at work. It hasn't felt good - but it has been my reality. Zero creative juice. Two kids in online school. A full time job and a helluva lot of volunteering in healthcare in varying capacities and a tsunami of non Covid related personal drama. Nothing left in the ol' tank.

I listened to the PowderKeg Unvalley Spring 2022 Sam Parr keynote this morning and not only was Sam's talk about the value of Midwest humility, hard work, luck and keeping an eye on the endgame excellent...a bunch of things that have been rattling around my head starting to culminate AND (not the least of which) a blast of inspo that I so sorely needed as a positive kick in the ass to sit down and put some words on a page.

TD/LR: The culmination of all of your life experience whether conscious or not, positive or negative, internal or external, or future or past are making things possible or achievable for you today and beyond, and recognizing this and taking action NOW is a path that will be uniquely powerful for YOU to navigate a post pandemic world where there is so much flux and uncertainty.

What do I mean by that? Let me back up. Almost 7 years ago after trying to look for a family cottage and deciding it was simply out of our snack bracket, an opportunity presented. A little place a solid 8 hours north of where we lived at the time, on Lake Superior. Almost everyone in my life thought it was a crazy thing to buy for a myriad of very practical and legitimate reasons, but we took the plunge anyways. Felt right despite all the facts. Always trust your intuition. She's wise.

Pre-pandemic we proved the nay sayers wrong. It was a great idea and we had no regrets. Lots of pictures of small kids with bare bums jumping into the water (those I cherish on my phone, not the internet). Many road trip dramas (driving that far with kids 1 and 3 is NOT for the feint of heart). My moments like this King of Marshmellows

Fast forward to May 2020. Online school for a then 6 and 8 year old boy was a complete bust. No one was learning a thing, and lots of tears and frustration. My friend, teacher and polymath and complete intellectual heavy weight Linda Carson's motto was "There Are Fewer Rules Than You Think" (she passed last year and I miss her terribly and if you are intrigued take 5 minutes to watch this stunning Ignite talk - she's a giant)

...and I took that credo, and called the elementary school and said, "I love and respect you - but this ain't working for anyone...so respectfully - we are flying the coop, heading north and doing "Forest School" for the balance of the school year.

Was it perfect? No...I still had to work. Many calls with earbuds multi tasking. The Camp (that is what cottages are called in Northern Ontario) was...let us say...campy. Septic gurgling. Husband in Southern Ontario. BUT...moments like this :) We eventually reunited and spent a very simple and wonderful summer and early fall - until we had to winterize the well. Our friends said "STAY! Its so idyllic" but while I can rough it in the bush after spending my teenaged years at a canoe tripping sleepaway camp, I'm no Laura Ingalls Wilder! We returned home and hoped like we all did, for the end of the pandemic.

The pandemic wasn't close to being done with us in hindsight. We tried to get back to old routines. The house which was a simple family suburban home felt gigantic, in light of 6 months in 1000 sq ft. And loud, and very "peoplely." So at Christmas despite the lack of running water and sub zero temperatures with all of our parents having passed, or vulnerable and visiting not being an option - we thought, let's spend Christmas at Camp Foat.

Christmas looked different - for sure! Our "Christmas Tree" that was a art/math/science Forest School fall project made of driftwood from the beach.

...and it created the opportunity for new traditions. First annual Christmas Eve Foat Family Dip (I was the paparazzi - it was -16C (!)

All of this to say - you see the build...this is not a plea from me imploring you to flee the city. Each person reading this has a radically different backstory and current needs, and future desires. For ME this started to seem more and more feasible. What we attributed to the vacation high pre-pandemic - we realized after sustaining 6 months and working and feeling the same way was in fact NOT simply the joy of getting away. So when we got home from the Christmas trip I asked my husband why we didn't simply live there? We both had mostly remote jobs pre-pandemic. The real downside was the cost of connection - we traded our commuting budget ($800/month) line item to telecommunications ($600-800/month on cellular wifi) and externally Elon Musk started rolling out Starlink in the area - so there seemed to be a near term solution.

So we painted our entire city house the colour of the moment "greyiche" listed it and it sold immediately in the frenzy that was pandemic real estate. We prepared to move north in May when the old well could be opened and started planning for a new 4 season deep well and a non handyman special 1970's septic system. And gave away TONS of stuff to those in need, packed up what we could fit and needed and proceeded North.

Just like there were nay sayers when we bought the place - there were tons of friends, colleagues and family that had questions when we said we were moving...You aren't selling your house?! Are you buying a condo in the city? What if you hate it - can you afford to come back South? What about the kids? One colleague said - you are either completely nuts or a genius and I can't figure out which! The reality is for ME and our family it was the culmination and perfect post pandemic path.

In the last year I've started seeing some of the connection points in my personal life culminating and informed this big shift. My own life experience whether conscious or not, positive or negative, internal or external, or future or past are making things possible or achievable. I'll highlight a few intersections that are true for me in the hopes that you can make some tangential leaps in your own.

In an attempt to save me from my own workaholism, my husband started taking me away to a Lodge close-ish to where we are now without cell service before we had kids and after we had our boys. These vacations introduced me to the North and got our kids acclimated young to all the fun stuff can happen!

I "grew up" at YMCA Camp Wabanaki as a sleepaway camper and counsellor (1987-1993) so the wild life is in my bones, and my husband grew up close to where we are now - so it was familiar and comfortable for him too. Also unconsciously before the permanent move we built the kids a tree fort that I painted the EXACT same colours as the cabins at that camp. Something I was not at all conscious of - until a friend pointed it out to me

When I turned 40 I took a trip of a life time and spent a few days at the Fogo Island Inn on Fogo Island Newfoundland which deeply impacted me specifically in terms of ways of knowing and the importance of place. And looks eerily familiar, totally unconscious - but played a role in this decision.

So - again, the culmination of so many seemingly unrelated life experiences. In my case mostly unconscious and positive. But because of these experiences, moving to a cabin in the woods seemed possible, achievable and desirable. Full disclosure - I am a Design Thinker in my day job - so the idea of "designing" a completely different life appealed to me - where it likely might be a nightmare for many others. I needed a woodshed. We created a beautiful one :)

I implore you at the minimum - explore and seek experiences. They will create optionality you never thought possible. If you are more ambitious, consider the intersection of the experiences that you have had to date and why perhaps you were drawn to them and how they relate to one another. There is magic in there if you mine it! As the pandemic winds down figuring this out for yourself based on all your unique experiences and desires I think is the secret sauce to capitalize. Capitalize on the culmination to find your best post pandemic path!

Wishing you the best post pandemic life that is possible and desirable. Its not without its bumps in the road BUT the life dividends are huge! Thank you Sam Parr - funk and block ended. Hope I might help one person also in writing this. Pay it forward. If nothing else this pandemic has taught us as my mentor Cathy says these last two years have shown the need for kindness, grace and time for ourselves to rejuvenate - I'd add, an opportunity for running towards something - not away.

Thanks again Sam Parr and thanks UnValley PowderKeg Conference!