Benevolence…….We worry about the lack of kindness in our world today. We worry that we have become so accustomed to assuming the worst from our fellow humans, that we have forgotten about affection and cordiality. We worry that the belief that the intentions of our fellow humans have become so polluted with expectations of the worst possible meanings or outcomes, that we’re forgetting about tenderness, patience, altruism and gentleness. We worry that we are becoming numb to generosity, compassion, consideration, or concern for others, without expecting praise or reward, and that this standard is becoming pervasive. It’s a lot to worry about.

Interesting questions, both: What is our new normal and “Now what?”

Teasing apart these queries, we happened upon this space: what are the (clearly unintended!) awarenesses and gifts our time apart during this once-in-a-century pandemic has afforded us (and yes, we believe there are some important ones)? How have we evolved in regards to perceptions, attitudes and approaches towards professional relationships? What have we learned and what can we extract from the lesson(s)? Hmmmmm, food for thought indeed.

In her article for the New York Times dated 4.23.21, Kate Murphy asserts:

“The past year has forced a mass meditation on the nature and strength of our social ties. While our culture has encouraged us to accumulate friends, both on and offline, like points, the pandemic has laid bare the distinction between quantity and quality of connections. There are those we’ve longed to see and those it’s been a relief not to see. The full reckoning will become apparent only when we can once again safely gather and invitations are — or are not — extended. Our social lives and social selves may never be the same.”

We submit for your consideration, now that things are opening up - returning to “normal” - who do we really want or need to spend time with professionally? Who is important to us and our professions? Now that we’ve had this time in relative Zoom isolation, necessitating intense intentionality with interactions (we could no longer just bump into a colleague in the lunchroom and ask a quick question), how have we prioritized communications and exchanges in a meaningful, thoughtful manner? Obviously (this is a FIG offering, after all!), consequential, relevant relationships are important, but what’s the quality of these interactions? Like it or not, we were compelled to calculate the relative importance of who we chose to engage with, what we needed to accomplish, and why we were doing so (we didn’t have much choice in the “where” question: Home office? Living room? Kitchen counter? Backyard? Ok, so we had a few choices)?

2020 has been quite a year, and each and every one of us has a lot on our emotional plates. For those who already have social anxiety, these uncertain times can be almost unbearable. Between a global pandemic, the threat of murder hornets, political and racial unrest, and the variety of other crises the first half of the year has offered, it can be incredibly hard to cope for some. At times, the world seems like it has turned upside down. It's easy for apocalyptic fantasies to take hold of the psyche. However, there are still steps you can take to cope with and even overcome your social anxiety.

The Internet is an integral tool in our day to day lives that we have come to take for granted. For the younger generations, the Internet is omnipresent; they’ve never known life without it. My son, a GenY, came with me to my office many years ago, saw and was fascinated by an old typewriter I had on my shelf. He had trouble understanding that what was being typed wasn’t stored automatically or that he couldn’t edit, copy or paste the product!

Seldom do we take time to consider the vast brilliance, the scope and the reach of it, nor do we consider the ills afforded by the anonymity of being safely behind a screen. We are able to research anything, locate any place, watch videos, movies, listen to podcasts, search our ancestry, order food, find a date etc. and find immediate gratification for basically whatever we want nearly instantaneously. We are able to search the web from a device in the palm of our hand, we can communicate at any time with our family and friends across the entire world. The Internet has the astonishing capacity to educate us, connect us, and advance us.

With the Covid-19 Crisis in full swing, many offices and workplaces made the mass shift to remote work. Working from home has many benefits (including the remoteness from others in a time of contagious virus), but takes practice, and lacks many of the productive subtleties of the in-person workplace. Many didn’t realize they’d miss these small moments and perks of being in a formal office setting until they had to cope with no longer having them. One of those is the 30 second walk-by meeting.

During the COVID-19 Crisis, masks and mask-wearing have become one of the most talked about and sometimes-controversial topics in the news. Many businesses require you to wear a mask upon entry, and many people are making the choice to wear one any time they leave the house. Wearing a mask can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it also blocks one’s nose and mouth, a surprising handicap to communicating with facial expressions.