Series 1 (10/24) "Express Yourself"

We write to you in strange times indeed. Most (if not all) of us are reading this cut off from the routines of ordinary human life as we knew it.

It would be easy to assume we need a whole new way of working and thinking but at the same time we believe this crisis is an actual "corrector" and offers a precious opportunity to create and embed small habits into our daily lives. We have the profound believe that if every single one of us uses these days and weeks to energetically work on oneself, the world will be a stronger and more conscious/aware/centered place once we get out of it. The universal sequence we trust in starts with "leading one self" and only then leads to "leading others" all the way to "leading lasting change". And as a fact, "leading one self" starts with self awareness and small personal daily habits.

Some initial habits/nuggets we threw around ranged from how to start one's day, how to distill what actually matters, how to embed mindfulness and gratitude into one's day all the way to the power of nutrition and recovery. Many more habits will come over the weeks ahead and it is all about each of us finding (and activating) our own little formulas. These formulas represent our own personal pathways to a higher level of "leading one self".

But this short article is actually about a second thought that came up over the past days. We’ve been pondering and wondering how others living in isolation throughout history had managed these periods without any technology available. Turns out there are some great lessons to be learned from historical ‘home workers’. Let us share some which caught our attention:

Henry David Thoreau produced his great work Walden while living isolated in his Concord hut from 1845 to 1847. He also kept a journal - ‘my journal is that of me which would else spill over and run to waste……perhaps this is the main value of a habit of writing….that so we remember our best hours and stimulate ourselves.’ 

Journaling is so useful as a repository for our fears and frustrations and as a space to release our creativity. If we could urge you to do one thing it’s use this time, when we have all been forcibly ‘slowed’ and are not rushing out the door to take on a hundred things, to go inside, get reacquainted with yourself and your deepest hopes and dreams. Are you still on the right path?

Then there was Mother Julian. An English mystic and hermit of the Middle Ages. She used her alone time to give the world the first book written by a woman in English. Revelations of Divine Love with its now famous mantra ‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well’ has been an inspiration for centuries. How could you inspire and comfort others now?

And what about Nelson Mandela who spent his years in and out of solitary confinement, earning a law degree and tenaciously pursuing his fight for freedom for his people? He adopted a daily routine to get him through, including exercise. Have you worked out a new exercise routine?

Finally, perhaps the most famous home worker ever. From 1942 to 1944 Anne Frank lived with only her, often exasperating, family and friends in a tiny shared space. In these unpromising surroundings, suffused every day with fear, she started and stuck to her life’s great task - her diary - producing one of the most enduring accounts of human hope in the face of adversity. Enforced isolation gave her the chance to develop her gift and her journal kept her sane: ‘I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.’

From her isolation, she also issued one of the most moving personal credos ever. Even as her people were subject to the deepest fears and difficulties imaginable, she could write:

‘I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.’

And so, while sticking to the practices reprised above and along with a sensible reliance on tech, is to write, write, write. Mine your inner creativity as a precious resource. There is some alchemy about capturing things on the white page or screen that makes them seem manageable, that helps you reconnect with yourself – and we’re all going to need to ‘find the friend within’ now.

Maybe even start a joint journal with family or friends during this shared time. Accounts of past pandemics by Samuel Pepys and Daniel Defoe are still read today. Anne Frank started her diary because the Dutch government asked its citizens to record the extraordinary times they were living through, so there may even be a call for personal accounts in future. What a valuable gift for generations to come.

We wish for you all that this rare human experience may paradoxically yield you, like Thoreau, some of your ‘best hours’. Stay strong and well.