Low unemployment rates. Favorable interest rates. Bull stock market. Unicorns roam the Silicon Valley. Uber this. Airbnb that. Sharing is king. Gig economy is in.
January rings with faint news of yet another respiratory disease from China. It’s probably another SARS or MERS. Meh. We continue to live our best lives doing what we do best. Go to work. Try out the latest fashion. Swipe right. Brunch. Dine. Wine. Socialize. Deal and wheel. Vacation overseas.
Global citizens, we can go anywhere and do anything! The world is our oyster. Nom nom nom.
Until it wasn’t. Borders shuttered. Travelers stranded. Lovers separated. Weddings delayed. Birthday parties cancelled. Elective surgeries ceased. No more handshakes. No more hugs! No more conversations. Everyone is scared. We shut ourselves in.
Enter digital workspace for office workers. Massive layoffs and unemployment for others. Small businesses shuttered, and big companies hobble along. Yet, some thrive. New businesses spring up, and new wealth is created still.
You are forced to stay home, all by yourself. Or with people in your house, but don’t spend any time with.
No more traveling! You are not to socialize!
Socialites become hermits. Hermits grow lonely. Couples break up. Estranged family members make up. No more distractions. Kicking and fighting, we stand still.
Take away the outside world.
Take a deep breath. Remember to breathe.
If you forget to breathe, you will die. Covid-19 reminds us to breathe on our own, without the help of others.
Mourning yawns. Morning dawns.
We look into the rearview mirror of who has contacted us over the past six months? Who did we stay in touch with? What have we purchased? Everything shrinks. We cut out the clutter.
We cook. We eat. We sleep. We go for walks.
We go back to basics.
We focus on the important. What was once urgent is no longer relevant.
We take off our glasses of the past. We open our eyes.
It is 2020, and we have perfect vision.