Learning Forward
2021 couldn’t come soon enough. The words “social-distancing, quarantine, asymptomatic,” have become tired and old. We’re all exhausted and fatigued from the cycle of doom and fear that prevailed in our lives for three-quarters of 2020. The novelty of zoom has worn out; we yearn to see the smiles once again behind those masks. We’ve all missed the spontaneous coffee meetups; celebratory family gatherings; going to school; attending concerts; going to the theater; watching a sports event; hugging each other.
When, without so much as a whisper of warning, the pandemic enveloped the entire world sometime in March 2020, we figured out how to “make do”. In the process, we learned what we want more of, and certainly, what we could do without. In many ways, we’ve been forced to “learn forward”: to meet the new and unexpected circumstances on its own terms. We had no choice but to let go of what was not relevant anymore, exploring new ways of living and doing things and creating new rules as we go. We even developed new “pandemic habits”, the likes of which we had not imagined ourselves ever doing.
I’d like to suggest that is it a good time to reflect on our learning forward moments in the last nine months, and to consider how we can continue to let life show itself.
In her recent NY Times article, Tara Parker-Pope suggested that we ought to bring them over the new pandemic habits we’ve developed to the post-pandemic era, particularly the self-care related habits. The pandemic painfully reminded us of how connected we are, and taking care of ourselves, staying safe and well, is a way to care for our community. Because we were home a lot, we became more aware of how we spend our 24 hours and found an hour or two for a new way of spending our time that fuels our passion and our personal goals. We learned how to take small exercise breaks during the day and found ways to hold ourselves accountable either by finding accountability partners or through apps that mushroomed during the pandemic.
An illustrated list that the NY Times also published of the things their readers (ages 9-73 around the USA) wanted more in 2021, and what they could do without, provides a helpful glimpse of what we may all have in common.
The “What I Want More in 2021” list included:
- Creativity: music, art, cooking
- Nature: hiking, birdwatching, gardening, fishing
- Exercise: walking, skiing, biking, swimming, Tai-Chi
- Connection: organizing, writing, conversations, ancestor research
- Nutrition: tea, fruits, vegetables, water
The “What I Could Do Without” list included:
- Social Media: Instagram, Zoom, Facebook, “screen time”
- Non-nutritious food: alcohol, candy, junk food, red meat, cookies, salt, ice cream, cake
- Attitude: comparing to others, negativity, perfection, self-hate, worrying, boredom, complaining, stressing, harsh words, gossiping, racism,
- Activity: sitting, spending, shopping, staying up late, piled up mail, global-warming contributors (plastic, beef)
“Learning forward” is to assume that there is something new to discover with everything we do, in everything we think, in how we show up to each experience and see what new possibilities emerge. It wouldn’t have been possible to imagine that we would want more of deeper connection and less of social media; or realize how much of the depleting attitude and negative feelings we could do without - if the pandemic did not force us to let new possibilities emerge.
Let’s not forget this lesson and learn forward to 2021 and its many possibilities.
