What’s Giving Me Hope During This Crisis

I won’t lie, these last few weeks have been hard adjusting to our new reality and also reading the news of COVID-19 spread around the world.

We’re all worried. Millions of people around the world are getting sick and hundreds of thousands have died. We’re scared for our families, friends and communities – especially those who might be at higher risk. The uncertainty can be a bit overwhelming. 

It’s tough to find yourself in a new pattern of life, personally and professionally, overnight. I am now taking Zoom calls in my living room next to my dog Blair (the best quarantine buddy in the land) and with my three kids in the next room over. This is a huge shift from flying all over the world every week. And, as CEO, it’s also meant making tough decisions to protect the health and safety of our 1,200+ employees around the world (though I also recognize we’re lucky to be able to work from home as record numbers of people file for unemployment). 

But you’re also seeing kindness spread around the world, too. You see it everywhere – on Twitter, in teams working together, in families spending quality time together, in healthcare workers making daily sacrifices to take care of the sick, and in strangers lending a helping hand. These acts of kindness – both big and small - aren’t slowing down, even as weeks of this crisis stretch into months. If anything, they’re accelerating. That gives me hope and optimism for our future. 

One place to look for this is Italy, where despite having one of the highest cases of deaths in the world, they were still singing to lift each other’s spirits. If that’s not resiliency and hope in the time of crisis, I don’t know what is. I’ve watched videos like this one a number of times over the past few weeks when I’ve felt my own spirits getting down, and there’s many more just like it.  

You can also see it in the bravery of those showing up every day to make it possible for the rest of us to stay healthy and at home. What’s more – many are flying INTO the crisis. When it became clear NYC was going to be an epicenter for the outbreak in the US – pictures started circulating of a Southwest flight full of doctors and nurses heading to help. Add to that the retired doctors and new grads that are also jumping in. That’s amazing.

It’s also in the small moments. People are checking in on each other more often. I hear my colleagues asking each other what they can to do help as some of them navigate juggling a full-time job with learning how to homeschool kids on the fly. Family and friends are calling one another up out of the blue to just say hello and see how they’re doing. I’ve been doing a family Zoom call every Sunday with my mom, brothers, and cousins, as well as talking to them more throughout the week. We’re all staying in touch much more than we did before this all started. These are ordinary moments, but in these times speak volumes to the kindness and support that is all around us. 

Finally, people are giving back in amazing ways. Online concerts like One World: Together At Home raised nearly $128 million for the World Health Organization. Or stories like this here in the Bay Area, where volunteers created a network of hundreds of people to help – delivering medicine, food, anything. Or people opening their homes to foster dogs - so much so that some shelters are running out of dogs for them to take.

No one knows what will happen next. The Bay Area will be largely sheltering at home at least to June, and who knows what will happen after that. We do not have a crystal ball, but I hope the kindness continues to be contagious long after the virus leaves. 

Hang in there. Add to this list with things you’ve been inspired by and kindness you’ve witnessed… 

M