JAKOB'S JOURNAL

Staying at Home, an Opportunity

April 7th, 2020

Quarantined + stay-at-home + shelter-in-place.

Our social senses are getting dull, or maybe numb already.
Our public spaces are empty.
The introverts are a bit confused, but also sort of happy.
The social butterflies are neurotic.
Business is suffering.
Society, at large, is suffering in a multitude of ways. Think of the ill, dying, or the one’s who have loved ones die but can’t even be at their side (they’re quarantined behind locked doors in a dark hospital room until they pass).

Our families, however, are getting stronger. Sure, there’s been some kinks to work out, but that’s a good thing! Many folks, whether they’ve lost work, are working from home, or usually travel for work, are now stuck at home. The default is ‘family-time’ and the efforts are all oriented around homebuilding.

Parents are spending more time with their kids than they EVER have.

Neighbors are holding ZOOM calls and finally meeting one another after spending years within a mile of each other and never crossing paths.

That’s wild.
People are now, sometimes—for the first time, building a life.

Planting roots.

At some point, be it weeks or months (my God, I hope it’s not years), we’ll have a chance to revert back to some kind of normal.

Is that what we’re hoping for? Back to normal?

I’ve had to take a hard look at it. My wife has been able to work from home for a few weeks now, and honestly, I believe it’s in our best interest to find a way for her to do so indefinitely. What a life we get to live when we have the option to spend as little or as much time together as we want!

Autonomy — it might be the greatest luxury of them all.

There’s something magical happening, but yet, it all still feels quite limiting.

It’s almost like we want this same “home-based” lifestyle, but also the ability for a few public gatherings. We want to have a barbecue with the neighbors, or grab a beer with a friend.

It’s dire times for many, and we’re all a little scared of what’s to come. Nonetheless, this time has provided, to all of us, a fresh perspective, and an opportunity to reflect.

You are about to read a Journal Prompt
take advantage of your wandering mind and write something down!

We have a rare opportunity in front of us:

Let’s take a look at our lives, right now, objectively, and without the noise of commutes, traffic, deadlines, and social obligations. Let’s examine if ‘how we were living before COVID-19’, is really how we want to keep living until we die. Is it? Ask yourself! A career pivot may be necessary anyway, and this “stay-at-home” thing is pretty cool. Maybe we ought to start aiming at something different, set some new standards. What do you think?

We ought to stop thinking so much about branching out before we’ve rooted out.

Let’s not squander this opportunity to REFLECT on what it might mean to MAKE THE BEST OF THIS LIFE. Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll have the courage to start climbing that mountain once we all get our footing back.
Cheers to them

April 6th, 2020

Cheers to the people sacrificing for the good of others.

Cheers to the people that seek to understand more often than they seek to judge.

Cheers to the doers.

Cheers to the thinkers.

Cheers to the fighters.

Cheers to the teachers, the coaches, the parents, the mentors.

Cheers to those creating better systems.

Cheers to those living with positive energy.

Cheers to the loud, and to the silent.

Cheers to those struggling, but desperately seeking a solution.

Cheers to the people that have it in them to change their mind.

Cheers to the logical.

Cheers to the believers.

Cheers to the creators.

Cheers to the leaders.

Cheers to the fearless.

Cheers to the selfless.

Cheers to you, no matter who you are now,
And cheers to you, for who you become tomorrow.
It’s right now

April 5th, 2020

Think back on an amazing memory.
Something unforgettable.
Filled with so much joy and love and laughter that it almost doesn’t seem real.

Those were the best of times.

How do we know if what we’re experiencing, right now, is going to become our ‘best of times’ or not?

Well, we don’t…
but if we started treating every right now like it could be, it just might become it.
Best people

April 4th, 2020

It can be scary wandering in the woods, and it’s worse when we get lost in there.

When the world around us crumbles — the forest we’ve been wandering through suddenly falls flat, and all we’re left with is the barren earth and open sky, vulnerable and true, vast and confused, embarrassed, defeated, paralyzed… and here we stand, lost again.

The woods, we feel now, might not have been all that bad.

We’ll always be thankful, in times like these, for having kept our best people close.
They are the stars — shining, guiding, lighting the way. Pointing the path. Soothing our soul. Covered by clouds or canopy, no matter, our people, our best people, are always there, and knowing of their presence, alone, is enough.

It’s easy to forget about our people when we’re among those trees, when we’re lost in the woods, but they are there. They are there.

I am so damn thankful that they are there.
Let’s cross the street

April 3rd, 2020

There’s a large team of us out for a walk together.
We need to get from one side of the street to the other.

How might we mitigate the involved risks?

TEAM WALK RULES:
— Use a crosswalk if there’s one nearby.
— Nominate a director/leader to give ‘wait’ and ‘walk’ orders.
— Traffic Checking System: Look left, then right, then left again.
— Don’t dilly dally while crossing: maintain a reasonable pace
— Stick with the group, and follow the rules

That looks like a solid list… if traffic injury was what we were trying to avoid.

None of that protects us from getting struck by lightning or swept up by a tornado, though.

Hmm…

A narrowly focused Risk-Aversion-Plan is just asking to be blindsided by a rare, devastating crisis.

Everyone knows to look both ways before crossing the street, but looking up? Checking for storm clouds before venturing out?
That takes a little extra effort, and a little effort is what separates them from us.
What usually hurts us the most are the things we didn’t see coming, but we’re going to see those things coming, think critically, and act accordingly.

Look early.
Look all around.

COVID-19 has a lot of people worried about their future. A healthy concern is ok, so long as it drives some positive action. Just remember, while everyone’s looking left and right, the ones that are truly going to come out of this crisis on top are the folks that thinking deeper about every angle and every possibility. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Let’s figure this thing out.

Staying at Home, an Opportunity

You are about to read a Journal Prompttake advantage of your wandering mind and write something down!

Cheers to them

It’s right now

Best people

Let’s cross the street

You are about to read a Journal Prompt
take advantage of your wandering mind and write something down!