Reflections & Inspirations for our New Extraordinary World

Last week, just as the sun was rising, I took a walk along the beach outside my apartment in Penang, Malaysia, where I live. I stood at the water's edge, where the glow of the sun’s rays danced upon its surface, creating a beacon of golden light, as if inviting me to step onto its path. As I stood in the ocean, the light shimmered and dissipated, merging into the waves of the sea.

Staring at the pathway made me think about hope. Our hope for a better future, our hope for things to change, or, for many, to go back to things as they were. A hope that is reflected in the dominant narrative of our story telling right now, as we collectively try to make sense of our experience.

Talk of Post COVID-19, or Post Pandemic and, in Malaysia, the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) which we now inhabit until the end of August, declares victory through our news feeds. Whilst it may feel like the virus has swept through Malaysia and moved on, with 70 plus days now of no cases in Penang and numbers dropping throughout the country, this has been largely achieved due to very strict movement control, and over 95% compliance countrywide, elsewhere we hear and read stories of other realities as spikes occur in China, Melbourne, South Korea and Leicester in the UK, to name but a few. So, are we really in a Post COVID-19 world?

Gina Kolata in her New York Times article, How Pandemics End, says ‘According to historians, pandemics typically have two types of endings: the medical, which occurs when the incidence and death rates plummet, and the social, when the epidemic of fear about the disease wanes’. She places our experience in a broad historical context of former pandemics and how the world witnessed their demise. 

What we may well not experience again, with this virus anyway, is the synchronous, global collective experience of us all being in simultaneous lockdown, in one form or another, as governments now try to contain spikes through more localised strategies and stricter measures. We don’t know. What we do know though, by listening to the narrative and reading the news, is that people are looking for hope, and hope is incredibly important to help us anticipate a better future. So, what words of encouragement and hope can I offer you within this new extraordinary time?

Last month, the Asia Professional Speakers Singapore, an Association of which I am a Professional Member, co-created an eBook with insightful and practical strategies to inspire those around us. Fifty-five of us wrote articles, and we each choose 19 that resonated with the theme that we penned. As my article talks about The New Extraordinary, rather than the New Normal, I chose themes that I felt would help to relieve stress and tension and promote collaboration and creative thinking. Skills that we need now more than ever. Please download a FREE copy of my collation today and do share with your friends.

  Reflections & Inspirations for our New Extraordinary World

It is important that we fill our hope tank with a pragmatic and positive mindset. My hope is that the benefits of our shared COVID-19 experience; increased collaboration and giving, outbursts of creativity and re-invention, and a view amongst many, that we need, for human and planetary survival, to change the way we work, live and play, continues to grow and offer us a fresh sense of direction and renewal.  

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“All of it can provide a melting pot of energetic alchemy to give you a new hope and a new perspective.”

Metaphorically, take a walk down that pathway of golden light shimmering on the sea’s edge, and discover treasures and jewels along its beam. As the water dissipates around your ankles, watch the ripple effect that takes place as it disperses into the sea. Hope, like joy, is contagious.

Whatever is happening in your life, be present with what is; the pain, the sadness, the joy, the sense of possibility. All of it can help you, transform you, and provide a melting pot of energetic alchemy to give you a new hope and a new perspective, whatever challenges, Post COVID-19 or not.

Natalie

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Natalie Turner is the Author of the Award-Winning Book Yes, You Can Innovate. Discover your Innovation Strengths and Develop your Creative Potential. She is also a Keynote speaker and the inventor of The Six ‘I’s? of Innovation.

Hear Natalie’s speech that she gave about ‘Fight, Flight or Innovate’ at The International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) Virtual Conference in June 2020.

Study with Natalie and learn how to enable and empower your organisation to unleash its creative potential through the Six ‘I’s? Virtual Professional Certification Programme.

Listen to Natalie speak on PURPOSE and PEOPLE centred innovation at the INSPIRED conference virtual conference (Aug 24-28th). Early Bird Ticket $59 USD.

Watch Natalie's interview with Expert TV about the upcoming Golden Door Awards Ceremony where her book has been nominated for an Award.