Back to Normal?...Not So Much, but There's an Opportunity Here

We are all longing for things to return to normal, but we must hold the course and, in the words of Richard Rohr, have “the courage to change and grow in love.” That may sound a bit smarmy, but we talk all the time about how we love what we do, love working with students, love working with our colleagues. That love can be put to the test when our at-home bandwidth isn’t sufficient, and our computers keep crashing in the middle of projects we’d prefer to be doing at the office. It takes a lot of love to keep digging through the piles of email that are a consequence of trying to keep collaborating entirely online. And I can’t say that “love” is the first word that comes to mind when I get an invitation to yet another Zoom meeting! 

But love was on my mind when I ran across Aisha Ahmad’s Chronicle of Higher Education column titled “Productivity and Happiness under Sustained Disaster Conditions.” I love the vibrancy of our division and miss experiencing it “in real life” every day. So I was struck by Ahmad’s advice for thriving during a sustained crisis remember that “crisis adaptation takes time,” we must “embrace radical acceptance,” and “protect [our] mental health and emotional resilience.” 

I would recommend reading the entire article, but I wanted to speak to you in this edition of the newsletter about Ahmad’s second piece of advice: embrace radical acceptance. When I first glanced down the paragraphs, I wondered what she might mean by that because, on the surface, it seems counterintuitive. Acceptance sounds passive, while there is nothing passive about a “radical embrace.” Let me just share a bit from Ahmad’s own words:

For the foreseeable future, we will all have to learn to live in the world as it is. Embracing this fact with humility, open-mindedness, and good cheer will serve us much better than going kicking and screaming down the path of denial. . . . .

Rather than cling to illusions of normalcy and control, let the alternate universe teach you all-new ways to be and do. The world is different. So let’s be different, too. For this strange period in our lives, we have the opportunity to learn entirely new approaches to productivity, knowledge, connection, community, and happiness. There is a new space opening up between the walls and restrictions of this pandemic. Approach this new space as a visiting student, learning the ropes. Try to embrace this opportunity with curiosity and willingness.

I love it! Ahmad asks us to become students of uncertainty! As we continue to adapt to a situation that changes daily, hourly—whether the stay-at-home order is lifted or we continue to work from our bedrooms and kitchens, tv rooms and closets—let’s be kind to ourselves as we figure out how to continue to love what we do in this new context. Let’s embrace, radically, the opportunity opportunity to delve into those “new spaces” of discovery and innovation that this unusual time has created. 

Sincerely, 

Lyn