New Reality, from Bernadette Petitpas
COVID-19. What a name! And what an upheaval this pandemic will have caused in all areas of life! Everything is the same and yet nothing is the same anymore.
Work continues to exist, as do financial concerns. We worry about our physical and mental health, our relationships, be they romantic and family, friends or professional, and not necessarily in that order, and this stress affects us at work. Our freedom of action and movement has been and still is limited due to a health crisis, which has led to changes in our responsibilities and our ability to meet them.
What can you, as an individual or as a professional, do to adapt to the situation and contribute to society while being happy?
On the professional side
It is clear that the relative weight of the different economic sectors will change. The impacts of COVID-19 on the travel and tourism sectors, and the rediscovery of the importance of self-sufficiency in food and manufacturing, are telling examples.
Confinement has led to layoffs upon layoffs and has made teleworking part of our routine. Volunteer involvement has increased. Unemployment is present, however, there are labour shortages at the same time. Working from home is here to stay, while evolving to reconcile both physical distancing with the need and effectiveness of face-to-face meetings.
What makes a team strong, and the links that used to contribute to commitment and mobilization, must evolve and encompass different, more varied forms to reflect everyone's realities, whether in terms of health or family situation, for example.
Real estate, whether it be office or residential, will also have to take this new reality into account. And while technology has demonstrated its indispensable assets, the limitations of telecommunications and the risks of piracy make one think. A rebalancing of forces and trends has begun. Jobs will no longer necessarily be the same, nor will the demands. And while there is no shortage of challenges, there are new opportunities to be seized or invented. Resilience and agility are two fundamental elements of success in today's normal world, whether organizational or individual.
On an individual level
Since if we are not doing well nothing is going well in our lives, the means at our disposal to take care of ourselves are different, less numerous, and, of course, imply distancing. There are also advantages, such as telemedicine and teleworking of medical professions. The foods to which we have access, or those we choose to favour, are likely to change, for questions of supply capacity and costs, reflecting the difficulties experienced by the food industry. Depending on the situation, we will need external assistance, limit our choices according to our financial capacity, or favour more local or more value-conscious sourcing whenever possible. We must continue to respect public health recommendations.
And we will need to develop or strengthen our individual resilience, which means not only our ability to adapt, but also our ability to find the opportunities that lie hidden in adversity, and to contribute to the resilience and agility of the organizations in which we work or to which we contribute.
Man is a social animal with a strong need to belong. Pandemic forces and our relationships, crucial to our ability to adapt, have taken and will take a different form. Our conception of what constitutes our "bubble," this space all around us that belongs to us in its own right, is widening, influenced by the required safety distance.
Confinement has made us feel too close when all members of the household are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It has also made us feel too far away, given the absence of social touches, such as handshakes and shoulder pats. In fact, all these gestures by which we reassure and welcome others, which allow us to express sympathy or affection, both in the professional and personal areas, are reduced to the point of being non-existent.
We must learn to express and communicate the strength of our ideas and emotions in a different way and go beyond what technological supports have allowed us to do in the early stages of confinement.
And then there are the demonstrations of the last few months, for example in connection with racism, which suggest that a certain social and planetary awareness is beginning to emerge. A fine exercise in creativity and humanism in perspective.
New Balance
Thus, the balance between the three great areas of our lives was altered, as was the balance within each of them. Our priorities have changed or will change. Our values have evolved and continue to do so. Of course, not everything is rosy, but neither is the future painted black. Therefore, I would like to propose some questions to you, as an invitation to imagine, draw, create, tomorrows that resemble you, that contribute to your well-being, to a better balance:
You, as a person, what can you do to take better care of yourself? And what would be the first thing you would commit to do for yourself to feel better?
You, as a person in relationships, what could you do to make others feel the positive emotions you feel for each person involved? And how do you think this will contribute to your own and the other person's resilience?
As a person who works, whether paid or unpaid, outside your home or in your home, what would you like to change in the way you contribute to society that will enhance your self-esteem? Who do you want to be or become in this new reality?
Happy meditation!