Washing hands, wearing masks, staying indoors, and counting the number of people in a group are daily rituals.

The gravity of the situation we are facing as a human community stops us in our tracks. And we are facing it together, all of us, at the same time.

This is not the new normal. This is the new NOW.

Now more than ever, we are desperate for leaders.  

Because we’re all in the same boat, we think we get a paddle and then it’s gone! It’s not easy to be constantly searching for a way to normalize what you’re living. You go from tossing and flopping, crushed by giant waves to sitting idle in the center of a pond, still water, not a ripple. No need for an anchor because you’re immobilized. By what? Fear.

Fear has settled over you like a blanket. Whether you’re sheltering or self-isolating, you’ve cocooned into a state such that you don’t even remember the week before lockdown in this pandemic.

We are all in this new world. And you were not prepared or expecting what you are now living. Back to the boat analogy – you’ve been sitting there on your pond and haven’t used an anchor because you’re not going anywhere. You’re not even drifting. Because you’ve stopped. And you’re waiting.  

Remember when you led the organization? The work you did was so critical. Now, it’s full stop. But hey, the mission is still there. The core work to be done is more important than ever.

Like everything in our world, you see things differently now. You feel so uncertain most of the time and you are riveted from channel to website to street talk, all in an attempt to make sense and grasp reality.

Unlike a snowstorm, this has no end for now. You’re used to being so definitive in your thinking and in your living.   

To stay focused and to keep pushing forward, you need to hold on to relationships, make connections, and seek meaning. Those three things are your to-do list now.

Your work is now to answer this question: Who are you in this pandemic?

Like you, I walk through the day hearing about all the rules. It’s not rules that are getting us out of this pandemic. It is principles. Because it is principles that guide our behaviour and help us evaluate what is going on around us.

There is much to do. Standing still and being silent is not my plan.