Things I’ve Learned In The Last Two Years (or so)

Wasted.

Lost.

Paused.

I stumbled upon an article with those three words describing the space between today and March 13, 2020. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of disagreement. The years were challenging, difficult, monotonous, tedious, trying, tragic, and long, but not wasted. We can carry many powerful lessons and accomplishments from our pandemic experience.

Here is my non-exhaustive list of things that stand out for me.

1. Our work is portable
   • Working from home or from a coffee shop is not new, but we shifted and showed that we can work outside of a traditional office space in a large scale way. It wasn’t perfect with dogs barking, kids needing distance learning help, the neighbor’s seemingly constant leaf blower, but we did it. I taught hundreds of people — some with cameras on, some without. Some with no cameras on their computers because organizations made decisions without imagining a future including quarantined employees logging in from home.
2. Together can happen in new and exciting ways
   • We reached out to each other. We moved meetings, trainings, and meditation online. We came together digitally to fill the distancing gap. Not only did we continue many of the programs we were already offering in person, but we created new, adaptable programs to support each other.
3. We can extend our reach
   • We reached further. Training I would have offered to people within driving distance of my home in Sacramento became available to people anywhere in the world. While most people who attended my training were still within my typical geographic area, people from across the United States and the world were in attendance. I was able to work with organizations who fight for food justice and equity from throughout the state. My programs would have been difficult for them to attend with their counterparts from all over California in a pre-pandemic world.
4. We are resilient, flexible, and adaptable
   • All of these. We juggled. We made the best. One of my favorite moment was watching Mary, a seventy something math teacher, attend my Best Practices for Virtual Engagement class. She was bundled in a coat and mask sitting outside in January. A few minutes before class started, I asked her about her location. “Are you sitting outside for the entire class?” She responded “yes. I attend all of my classes in the backyards of friends who can help me with the technology.” That, my friends, is resilience.
5. Need creates
   • We did what we had to do. I led classes from March 2020 to December 2020 on a 17 inch laptop. It’s what I had. It worked. I perched my computer on top of a speaker and a box to bring the camera to eye level. It worked. It worked well. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t pretty. It was functional. I have sense upgraded but, I pine a little for the simplicity and portability of my previous system.
6. Community is vital to who we are
   • I opened an online room on April 20, 2020 not knowing how many people would show up. And then they arrived. I think we reached fifty people, but it wasn’t the number that mattered. It was the bond and connection shared. Being in a situation together bonds you to people like nothing else. Shared experience creates connection and understanding. Let’s Learn Together started as a desperate effort to stay connected to the learning and development community in a casual, supportive way. I’m honored and pleased to know we continue to meet, laugh, and find value in our time together.
7. Time for ourselves
   • We gained time. We gained time from our commutes, from taxiing children, errands born of the necessity of a life lived outside our homes. I didn’t get gas as much (not that I ever do, I’ll stand corrected that my husband didn’t get gas as often…although read out of context that sentence is also incorrect). While many of us shared space with family, we also had more time for ourselves. More time to read the book, water the garden, finish the project, watch the Netflix series. Of course, there are exceptions with many people feeling isolated and alone.
8. Nature
   • We needed it. It was the respite and the change from the walls of our homes. I took more walks. I spent more time in the garden. I found reasons to dig in the dirt and plant more seeds.
9. More human
   • We became more human. I met children and significant others and dogs and cats. We let each other into our homes and extended each other kindness and flexibility in a way I’ve never witnessed in my working life. I watched moms turn cameras off to help with distance learning. We soothed a teething baby on screen with a plastic dinosaur. I watched babies become toddlers. All of these life activities existed pre-pandemic, but we didn’t bring them to work or share them in class. In so many ways we acted as if they didn’t exist. We left them for break time, tangents, and time off. I think we became more human, more real, more compassionate.

As we begin to maneuver returning to the workplace in some form, I’m glad to be on the other side of a frightening, unpredictable time. I refuse to believe anything in the last two and half (or so) years was wasted, lost, or paused.

I’m ready to move forward. For me that means more online learning with people from all over the globe. I’m excited about new possibilities. I’m excited about staying more human. How about you?