I used to feel elastic.
I could be pulled, stretched and twisted in different directions and could always return back to my original self. The past 18 months have shown that elasticity has its limits. Just like when your pandemic work-from-home pants and their elastic waistband(s) wear out and it’s time for a new pair. Or like a spring stretched too far and won’t go back to its regular form.
Have you ever heard of Hooke’s Law? Hooke’s Law is a principle of physics that states that the force needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance is proportional to that distance.
These past few days I thought I was flawed by being stretched and not being able to go back to my original form. My brain is burnt out, and doing simple things feels hard.
But maybe I’m looking at it all wrong. Maybe this pandemic, this new world we currently experience, is pushing us to look at life differently.
What if we have outgrown the spring that we were pre-pandemic?
What if what we care about most has changed?
For me it has made me care about certain things more deeply.
Humanity. Putting people first. Space to think. Space to assess my thoughts and what I am choosing to think. Seeing other people when maybe no one else sees them.
We need to keep the elasticity in our thoughts, so we can make better choices. Often that will mean you are not making others happy, but it does mean you are being authentic to you.
Let me know if you want to chat further about how stretched out your spring is — I will help you see you.
