A Sprinkling of Hope and Grace



While we can’t be certain exactly how long the more intensive phase of COVID-19 will last, what is clear is that the world has changed and we will likely never return to “business as usual” before COVID-19.

So with that, I wanted to share a beautiful perspective, on all that is happening around us, sprinkled with hope and grace.

In a beautifully written article, Aisha S. Ahmad, a professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto explained:

“The answer to the question everyone is asking — ‘When will this be over?’ — is simple and obvious, yet terribly hard to accept. The answer is never.

“Global catastrophes change the world, and this pandemic is very much akin to a major war. Even if we contain the Covid-19 crisis within a few months, the legacy of this pandemic will live with us for years, perhaps decades to come. It will change the way we move, build, learn, and connect. There is simply no way that our lives will resume as if this had never happened.”
How do we respond to such a profound and irreversible change?

Ahmad, who has lived under conditions of war, violent conflict, poverty, and disaster in many places around the world, has some wise council: “Now more than ever, we must abandon the performative and embrace the authentic. Our essential mental shifts require humility and patience. Focus on real internal change. These human transformations will be honest, raw, ugly, hopeful, frustrated, beautiful, and divine. And they will be slower than keener academics are used to. Be slow. Let this distract you. Let it change how you think and how you see the world. Because the world is our work. And so, may this tragedy tear down all our faulty assumptions and give us the courage of bold new ideas.”

The world is changing, and we need to adapt and change with it. 

What will these changes look like? While we don’t know for sure yet, we can make some predictions:
  • Remote by default (vs. office by default)
  • Digital (vs. physical)
  • Eating at home (vs. eating out)
  • Home & family (vs. commuting and traffic jams)
  • Local economy (vs. globalization)
  • Functional Medicine (vs. conventional medicine)
  • Health and nutrition coaching (vs. taking pills)
  • Telehealth (vs. in person visits)
  • Wellness as necessity (vs. wellness as luxury)

It’s important to allow ourselves to feel the grief that comes with a change of this magnitude—especially if we were happy and content with our lives pre-COVID-19. 

But it’s equally important to spend time thinking about how we might reinvent ourselves to be better prepared for the new reality we’re stepping into. 

And if we don’t know what that might look like, maybe we just sit for a minute or two and or three, whatever it takes until we hear a whisper. And then we’ll know.

In every challenge lies a seed to new beginnings and growth.

Take Care and Be Well.

Love,
Cindy D

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