Today I'm wondering, what is resilience? Is it to gather resources to stand in place and hunker down until the storm blows over? We are certainly hunkering down now to avoid spread, to do what is best for our communities. Meanwhile, the Italians report that there are swans, fish and dolphins swimming in the Italian canals for the first time in decades due to decreased boat traffic. There are scientific reports that the air over China has such a dramatic decrease of pollution that more lives could be saved than were lost if the levels stay as they are now. Are these signs of the Earth’s resilience? What does that mean to each of us? Italians are posting video of people singing out their windows, holding mass and cheering community civil workers. Are these signs of our human capacity to do more than survive?
As we work to figure out how to work virtually, avoid collapse and still stay healthy – could we also consider that it is an opportunity to do it all better? I read a blog by Seth Godin and he challenged us with a distinctive message. The summary of it was that we could choose to use this time not to do things the same, only virtually, but rather use this terrible event as a time to figure out ways to do it all better than before in hopes of being better.
In this vein I wonder, are there ways to begin to collaborate and do better than before, because we are experiencing this? As I think about the lives of the people we serve, as well as their tenacious families and support systems, I realize that resilience is something more than surviving. It's something brighter than survival and fighting the fight. It is lighter than standing your ground despite the odds just to come out the other side.
Resilience is when you have what it takes to sit in the rubble of what you wanted to happen and notice how it feels. When you can let those feelings lead you towards your deep down self and know the feelings you're experiencing. Healing happens when you can share connection with others from that place. I'm thinking it is then that resilience is possible, or maybe it is all a process of resilience.
Resilience is when you can look at what is, what was, and who you are now because of all that. It's when you can make something better, or different than what you wanted, in this moment. In times of resilience we are fully aware of all that has been, all that is, but most importantly, all that can be because of who we are and all we know.
I'm struck by how I never thought that the entire world could be so simultaneously and dramatically affected by one thing such as this virus. The lives lost are something I cannot change and it pains me very deeply. I cannot opine on the financial impact. What I do know is that this may be a time where some of us stop and take notice of ways we can do it all better - our jobs, purpose, lives, community and world. No one asks for a crisis or a trauma, but it’s here. Instead of wasting energy trying to go back to how things were, can we look at where we are and move forward? Can we take stock and figure out how not just to survive, but to embrace the current state of things and support one another to remember why we do what we do… and learn to do it better?