Dear World. We hear you.

It is unrecognizable. The pause. The quiet. The palpable fear. The way you feel. The way you behave. The extent to which it suddenly feels otherworldly.

I find myself wondering where we are. As a family, a community, a nation. As humans.

Where we are is here. Right now. This is the sobering reality of a pandemic.

However, humans are remarkable beings with capacity that is seemingly endless.

The unrecognizable is becoming more familiar, the pause less jarring, and the quiet at times peaceful. The fear is being managed, if only for fleeting moments. The feelings continue to come. Our behavior is adapting to the unrecognizable.

Those around us encourage us to breathe, to walk, to feel the joy, to find what takes us to our calmest possible place.

We are all trying our very hardest.

We were aware of the imbalance that our world, and frankly each of us, had reached. The earth literally cried out for help, weeping. The planet had a fever, we called it global warming. It had reached a critical breaking point.

We paid homage to the need but largely as a group we did little to impact change, until now.

And now we must.

With the pause comes a critical assessment of ‘value’. Of who and what in our community emerges as critical. An interesting rebalance is emerging. The pyramid is being reassessed. Financial wealth and the power that wielded a month ago has appropriately been replaced.

As the daughter and sister of doctors, for me, they along with nurses and all healthcare workers, have always been the most critical angels that grace our world. That has become glaringly obvious. What could possibly be more profound than human life.

Then there are the other angels – the truck drivers, the market workers, the store shelf stockers, the gas station attendants, the armies of delivery people, the teachers, the police, the fire fighters, the first responders – oh so many truly brave, generous and valuable souls. Finally these people are being seen. As they should be. The rebalance has begun.

Then there is your ‘work’ and what that means. Does it matter. Should it. Will it.

Professional drivers that were front and center are now sitting elsewhere. Goals of leadership, accolades (cash, titles, stock grants, contracts) and corporate recognition are being replaced. Perhaps by planting an urban community garden; a bench top compost pail that will fuel your window-box vegetables; the pursuit of a larger fridge; a freezer; a fully stocked pantry; an overdue catch up with your people; explaining technology platforms to an older generation, among many other (newly) valuable actions.

Value is marked by a sharp mind. Poised and ready to solve real world problems, at speed. Your focus has shifted.

Your inner dialogue has never been stronger, more honest or more powerful. Your new ‘work’ is rapidly aligning with who you are. Your innate truth. Your individual voice. Your authenticity.

Seize that.

Listen to yourself. Act on what you know and how you feel. Lead yourself through the unrecognizable and seek the sunshine, both literally and figuratively.

Be exactly who you are. Make your unique contribution. Give it away. Be generous with your power. Shoulder the burden. Assume responsibility.

Act as a community. With grace. With joy. And make it habitual.

Together may we each find a productive path to the new ‘now’.

As for ‘work’, it is critical that we all do so by being human, being vulnerable and being actively kind.

The rest will follow. It always has. This moment throws that fact into sharp relief.

By Maria Gianoutsos March 26 2020