15 May E46: For Simon – How has COVID been a gift for me?

This episode was taped for Simon Ratcliffe, host of the podcast Turning the Tables. He invited a number of podcasters from across the globe to submit their thoughts on how we have turned the adversity of this COVID-19 experience into an advantage – a core and recurring theme in his podcast.

This is the transcript of my offering. I will connect his episode in a separate post when he publishes it.

For Simon

Congratulations on the 2000th download of your podcast Turning the Tables. The episodes have been really full of positive conversations that have left me feeling empowered, reminding me that it is possible to Tilt an adversity, to make peace with parts of it, and turn it to our own advantage.

You asked

How has this COVID era been a gift to me?

In the first week, I felt as if it was the end of the world.
There was
a speed with which we dealt with new news and rapid change,
a tumultuous week of scrambling to get to where we needed to be,
of spinning on a dime to make technology work for us as we aimed to shelter in place.

Then suddenly – as if the globe had hit the brakes hard –
life came to a screeching halt.

I am fully aware for those dealing with grief and loss and exhaustion, these times truly feel like the end of the world. And they are in my prayers as their work enables me to shelter in safety.

I think that like me, there will be a group of people who will be look back nostalgically on these precious weeks.

Here are just a few of the gifts COVID will have left behind for me, and for the world.

The first is the gift of TIME.

I am blessed and at peace to have my adult children all asleep under the same roof, sharing meals together. This past Mother’s Day is the first in 5 years where all my children were able to share it in person with me.

But bigger than that is the treasure of this pocket of time together:

• I am valuing these moments of deep, unhurried, and uninterrupted discussions.
• We are discovering the adults they are evolving into – their dreams, their values.
• We share family stories of generations past so that they remember how their ancestors dug deep and discovered the grit, resilience and creativity that made our existence possible. And that gives them hope.

The second is a gift of Humanity.

I am thrilled to see human connection abound around me – electronically and in person.

• I see such broad smiles in the eyes of people shopping around me, even as masks cover their faces!
• The small gestures of caring between neighbours and strangers puts hope squarely back in play for Humanity
• There is a generation that will hopefully remember these tiny moments of peace and touch and connection between the very real stress and isolation.
• The young have been able to experience resourcefulness, responsibility, creativity and boredom. The boredom from which new ideas will spring.
• For the first time in a long time, I see us more connected across generations than before. We are now one generation – Generation COVID –  into one generation with a shared lived experience.

The third is gift of Possibility.

COVID shows we can work together to challenge an existential threat

This is a hugely empowering moment for me.

We now have an example of what is possible in the space of a few short weeks:

• That countries can work together
• That individuals are willing to make sacrifices for the common good

We now have a visible dress rehearsal for our ability to tackle the climate crisis. Working together. Realizing that the constraints we thought were around us will move to meet the situation at hand. Working together – creatively to imagine solutions where there were none before.

I have always been driven by family and possibility – and COVID has given me the gift of hope that humanity will rise to meet this and the next challenge and that we can and will work together.

CREDIT & THANKS; DEFINITIONS & RESOURCES:

• Taped for Simon Ratcliffe’s compilation episode on Turning the Tables
• TILT the Future – my podcast discusses how little ideas, small shifts and minute moments can result in monumental changes in our lives https://karenadesouza.com/blog/
• Photo, audio & video credits: Karena de Souza using Canva