I was listening to a Joe Rogan podcast last nt, & amidst a whole host of other talk, he chimed in abt this corona virus experience & said – “ya know, in the stand up comedy circuit, we started talking & were like – shit, after spending a life on the road going city to city, venue to venue, we’re kinda liking the change to this stay at home stuff.”
Of course stand-up comedians don’t make up the world’s population – nor do ones who are financially stable enough that they can afford not going on the road.
And likewise there IS a crazy storm going on. Despite what Joe says abt being at home, most of us are scared rt now of things like: getting the virus, friends/fam getting the virus, not being able to breathe, our friends on the front lines, financial uncertainty, stress of managing kids at home, not being able to go out for a “normal” dinner/drinks on the town, wondering when things will return to “normal,” hoping our small businesses or jobs don’t go away, hoping our 401Ks rebound at some point, etc.
And despite all of this, I had a convo w my old bud, Shauna, last nt that totally helped me crystalize the calm I’m feeling rt now in the storm. Likewise, we currently have a poll abt how many of you feel this calm in the storm, & it’s over 80% of you. Let me know if you can relate, but here’s what it boils down to for me:
At least as it pertains to Western culture, we’ve been indoctrinated into this idea that the “rat race” is “normal.” It’s abt all we know. How quickly are you moving up the corporate ladder? How quickly is your start-up growing? Who got the best college internship? Whose bonus was the biggest? Who was able to move their fam to a bigger house? That’s just the start of the list!
And yet, all being stuck at home…all the challenges to doing business…all the uncertainties of businesses not knowing when it’s comfortable to start selling aggressively again – it’s caused us ALL to hit a PAUSE button. It’s stopped the rat race in its tracks. It’s created a world where updates are abt who’s healthy, more than who’s bragging. Anyone else feel that’s one silver lining to this all?
