Roles, Priorities and Being Human 4

“We have come through the peak. Or rather we’ve come under what could have been a vast peak as though we’ve been going through some huge alpine tunnel. And we can now see the sunlight and pasture ahead of us. And so it is vital that we do not now lose control and run slap into a second and even bigger mountain” – Boris Johnson 30th April 2020.

I confess that the organiser [restrained control freak] in me was hoping, by now, for a little more commitment from the government as to when the sunlight can be on my face and the pastures beneath my feet, to steal and alter Boris’ analogy, but certainly I was pleased to hear that the time for learning more about the “exit strategy” is near. At least I may have a little more idea of what to expect in the next few months of 2020.

I am not so aligned with the sentiment that this experience is like being in a “huge alpine tunnel”, or even a long one. I have always enjoyed speeding through those feats of engineering with my headlights glaring, albeit with a slight concern that a herd of cows could meet me at the exit. For me, I confess, there are times when this “experience” feels much more like sitting in rush hour traffic in the Blackwall Tunnel or Dartford Crossing. But the purpose and value of compliance and daily restraint has been clear and the rationale for supporting the government’s guidance understood. The cost to my liberty of freedom to roam is insignificant when compared to the pain and loss endured by others in our society. In fact, I feel this last 8 weeks has given me a liberty of a different kind.

The gifts for compliance have been an opportunity to learn more about myself and others; certainly in their reaction to these circumstances. Within my home we’ve experienced what feels like a reboot with time to reflect and see a lot in our lives from a different perspective. We’ve had our share of frustration, anger and fatigue (mainly with Zoom or Microsoft Teams) but we’ve also set some new foundations for what really matters to us. Each of us has some new priorities going forward, for education; work; hobbies; friends; families and other commitments or activities. We’ve shed some of our pre-lockdown lives for good and in some cases substituted these with new bad habits instead.

I know I don’t fancy slapping into a second and even bigger mountain. This journey forward is going to require more patience, tolerance, flexibility, and accommodating of change to my liberties for a while yet. In the next 2 weeks we will start to get some increased freedom of movement and association back, but much of what we took for granted or accepted as the status quo 2 months ago will be impacted and possibly never return as our life or business “as usual”. There will be positives and negatives for each of us as the next 6 months unfold and we will all react to these changes in different ways.

Amidst people in my personal and professional networks I feel lockdown and its consequences for the way we live, and work were forced upon us. Although we may have chosen to rise to the various challenges each of us has faced, it could be argued that this has been out of necessity and service to our families and friends, or the need to maintain the commercial viability and sustainability of our organisations and livelihoods. How we behave, adapt, prioritise and embrace life as we come out of lockdown will, I think, be directed by each of us in a much more personally, self-determined and deliberate way.

We will have the stages of “exit” laid before us with conditions of progress that will enable more reflection and planning for our personal and professional lives than the sudden, enforced lockdown and edict of social distancing. Many of us have had time (plenty enough in some cases) to reflect on: what matters to us; who and what we really miss; who and what we care and don’t care for; what we can do without and what we now feel is essential. Others have been busier and faced more demands than ever before. Some have endured a loss, pain or feeling of grief that will mark them forever. We will all approach the coming months in different ways and likely evidence an array of emotions and levels of enthusiasm associated to “getting back out there”; in whatever forms that may take over the next 6-12 months. Friends, family members and colleagues could present plenty of surprises and demands of their own as we move through 2020.

How we each respond to these surprises and demands will be in part informed by our own experiences and reactions to lockdown and our appetite for leaving current levels of isolation behind. Levels of empathy and understanding could be clouded and strained by our own feelings of anxiety, fear, recklessness, relief, escape or excitement. We may become quicker to judge others on the validity of their stance.

The kindness, empathy, sense of unity, consideration and support that we have for those in our personal or professional networks, and our own levels of resilience and energy to adapt and embrace more change, will be tested still. And may prove harder for some than the last 2 months. I hope those of us who can will keep looking out for each other and noticing what others might not be seeing. In all areas of our lives.