Seven Words, One Week – 3

It’s that time of the week when I reflect back on what I’ve seen and heard during the week through the lens of seven words. Hopefully words that inspire us all to reflect on each and every one of them and integrate them into our daily thoughts and actions.

This is the end of the my 3rd week remote working and staying at home. I tend to be an all-in kind of gal – give me a challenge and I won’t ease myself into anything. I’ll jump in. With that in mind, I have been allowing myself one excursion a day which ends up being the daily dog walk (doubling up as the permitted exercise) and (once a week) a food shop if I can’t get an online delivery. It’s tough because you’re constantly fighting the urge to just want to ‘pop out’ but needs must and I have always found that cutting deep and quick, for me, is the best solution. I’m blessed though as I live somewhere quiet and I have a garden. Like I wrote in last week’s blog, none of us can even begin to imagine what it’s like for those who don’t have the ‘luxuries’ we do. Adjusting for us is easier. Let us not ever forget that. Having said that it is extraordinary how adaptable our lives can be if we only take the time and effort to adjust. That, in and of itself, gives me cause for hope.

Observation 1: I wrote a blog this week on fear, nudges and the role of sustainable investing. There is a much bigger book in all that I wrote but I wanted to get something out there on the role of fear in our lives. Especially on how it can often paralyse us and/or encourage us to do the things that ultimately self-harm. I wrote this from a place of personal experience. I think we’ve all been at places in our lives when our own thought patterns have led to behaviours that have weakened us. As a spiritual being, I find the role of religion and faith in recovery fascinating in this regard. I’m probably what you would call a syncretist with significant leanings East. We are part of the fabric of life, intricately woven into it. We do not own it, we do not sit above it. With that in mind, it is so incredible easy for us upset the balance in the fabric we inhabit through conscious and unconscious thought. Our belief systems inform our values and they in turn affect our thought processes and behaviours. Faith and/or religion can so often provide a route through which we challenge these belief systems we create for ourselves. I’ve heard so many more people openly talking about spirituality during this crisis than I ever have. The world feels like it’s beginning to wake up and interrogate itself. The rule book of behaviours that consumer based capitalism has tried to get us to embrace is losing its grip. People are questioning why, and more importantly people are questioning themselves. Belief. 

Observation 2: Working in impact investing affords me, on a daily basis, to witness the best and the worst of behaviours and practices at play in the global finance system. These last few weeks have afforded each of us who works in this space reasons to be optimistic as well as distraught. The best of the system has engaged wholesale, holding companies to account, demanding that the S in ESG is upheld in how supply chains and employees and contractors are treated during this crisis and joining the growing call for the reset we have long desired in capitalism become a reality. It has only strengthened my deep belief that lasting change only comes from engagement. And engagement is an active strategy. It doesn’t happen once a year at the AGM, it happens on a daily basis and requires relationships to be built. It is as far a cry away from the transaction based world of passive investing than you can get. So to all the fund managers, investors, and activists who have held their companies to account, brava. This is good investing. Engagement.

Observation 3: The clamour by everyone to have their opinions heard shows no sign of abatement. It is incredibly noisy out there. Duplication of opinion and in some instances downright plagiarism is rife. It would appear ego feeds off a good crisis. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t all have opinions and things we want to share but in these challenged times ask yourself maybe we all need to reflect on some ‘rules? Like i) is what I’m about to say additive and/or helpful?; ii) is it true? Can it be evidenced?; and iii) can I claim the IP or is this someone’s else’s work? Sometimes it’s good to question everything, including our own behaviours. Enquiry.

Observation 4: The #clapforNHS #clapforcarers has provided a focal point every week for us to come together as a nation and give gratitude for the extraordinary courage of our NHS heroes and sheroes and all those caring for the vulnerable. It’s a moment that brings us together in community – a weekly gathering where we can all feel uplifted by the courage of the few, and the love of many. Giving thanks like this, with whistles, pots, pans, and car horns is as important for our mental well-being, as much as it is to say huge thank you. It’s a celebration and in these uncertain times it gives us hope. Celebration.

Observation 5: Every week a most beloved and dear friend in Portugal conducts a weekly meditation for people working in the impact economy. I usually meditate as much as I can – I have one of those brains that sometimes (often) refuses to shut down – but Shelley’s meditation is on another level. It really helps me let go and trust in the process. Maybe it has something to do with her voice, given it’s so familiar to me and a source of reassurance given the depth of our friendship. Whatever the reason, 30 mins with her sets me up for the days ahead. That and taking time to focus my mind (I am a huge fan of the Calm App) has helped me manage the trials and tribulations that working in the impact economy brings. As we walk through these challenging times I cannot recommend meditation enough. For newbies, start with guided ones. And don’t worry if you feel like you can’t focus during them. Practice makes perfect and they say 10 minutes a day makes all the difference. Relaxation.

Observation 6: Rainbows and children. A match made in heaven! Children remind us every day of the power of unconditional love. Much like animals do. The wave of rainbow paintings adorning the windows around the UK for the NHS is beautiful and it reminds us to cherish and nurture what we have. Sometimes it’s the children who need to remind we adults of that – they have a purity we lose as we grow into adults. Maybe we all need to embrace our inner child more and learn to grow down a bit, not up. Love.

Observation 7: We will all be judged by what we do during these days, weeks and months. It will become part of our narrative, and a key part of how we and others define us. We’ve seen examples of selflessness and selfishness over the last few weeks. We seen businesses pivot, with their employees, and become major forces of positive impact. We’ve also seen others do the opposite. Memory is a strange thing. Sometimes it runs deep, sometimes it can be fleeting. As we emerge from this crisis, memory will play a huge role in where we go next as a global and local community, both individually, collectively, socially, commercially and spiritually. As the magical wordsmith that is Arundhati Roy penned this weekend, ‘the pandemic is a portal’. Whether we choose to honour that portal and create something better will be defined by how long our memories are and the strength of our desire to become better versions of ourselves. Legacy.

Belief. Engagement. Enquiry. Celebration. Relaxation. Love. Legacy.

Seven Words, One Week.

Stay healthy.