Making Space for the Future

What could this global quarantine look like if we took a moment to reflect on the opportunity this enforced isolation has presented us? There are three feminine traits that will support us in this this moment as we live in this moment and transition into a post-COVID future.


Firstly, BALANCE is crucial.  We are not in balance right now.  I don’t know anyone who is.  But as is being revealed in this pandemic, we weren’t really in balance before either.  Personally, professionally, family-wise, environmentally.  This pandemic, while tragic in so many ways, is also an opportunity to right that ship and find a better balance where our individual needs are met and we can be more present to ourselves and the world at large.  Whether this means cutting back on our outdated concept of economic “work”, finding a role that is more meaningful and taps into our core sense of self and purpose, or simply cutting a commute, cutting hobbies, traveling less for work, being more connected to family and friends (online or in person), finding fun family routines, being able to say ‘yes’ to kids more, and just being more genuine and honest about what we need to be a fulfilled and present human being. 

Second, KINDNESS has never been a more obvious need.  I have always appreciated and valued kindness.  But it’s more than a word printed on a piece of faux-reclaimed barn-board at Winners. As this pandemic exposes the dysfunctions of how we were living, kindness is becoming integral to our public interactions and daily life in new and exciting ways.  Especially for the frontline workers at grocery stores, health care systems and other essential businesses, but also in our intimate home lives and interactions with others.  Whether you are living alone, trapped with your kids, trapped with your partner or “bubbled” with other households, small kindnesses abound. This nascent kindness evolution seems to be emerging in small ways in my own life when I look for them, like people writing jokes on the side of the road as we take our daily walks, neighbours waving and being willing to stop and say hello (from 2 m apart of course) and a million other small and large actions of kindness that we didn’t have the time or energy for a few months ago.

Finally, this is a moment for pausing and LISTENING. I know you know this, but if there was ever a time to hit the pause button, taking a breath and listening – this is it.  While couched in some really difficult realities for our species, it is also true that the space has been created for all of us to think about our place in the world and what role we might play.  Wondering what makes you happy and alive, what gets you up in the morning. Listening to ourselves, to each other and to the ebbs and flows of a changing world.  This is a moment of deep, inescapable honesty and it’s a privilege for those of us who can to be able to step back and reassess what is important to each of us in this moment. 

Photo via Twitter Ed Chee @cheechoo98

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