Love in Times of Corona

Within five days, my calendar went from almost ridiculously busy three months to absolutely no entry at all. Last week I was still doing a workshop in Germany — today I couldn’t even enter that country anymore. Or Georgia, for that matter. I will be separated from my colleagues for weeks, maybe even months. Time to take a deep breath and think about what really matters.

It is interesting to see how people react to a crisis like this. As a friend said it the other day — it really brings out the true character of people. But I really don’t want to spend time writing about disastrously devious politicians or mindless toilet paper poachers.

Already during the first days of lockdown, lots of people are taking a closer look at what they do, how they live, what kind of values they have. Being thrown out of our oh-so-busy routines, we suddenly realize how strange, how distorted and how misdirected our lives have partly become.

Looking at ourselves, our industry, seeing that almost all festivals have been cancelled or postponed — am I really, really disappointed? Sad? What am I going to miss? The awards? The glamor? The fame?

No. What I will miss are the friends. The ones that I have and the ones that I would have made. I will miss the hugs, the surprises, the laughter, the feeling of being part of a bunch of great people. I love that a lot, and that’s what I will miss.

Or if I look at the company I am fortunate enough to lead. Leavingstone. All of the things we are planning and discussing, the joys and pains of transformation, the (re)definition of who we are and what we do — within just a few days, all of this is suddenly thrown into a completely different context, into home offices and hangouts, all being viewed from a new perspective.

This is the great advantage of the current situation. It gives us the opportunity to understand that a lot of the stuff we are discussing with such high importance and earnest attention is really just secondary topics. Not trivial — but clearly not at the very core of what is defining us.

This is the moment when we understand that we are a group of really good people. That we care for each other and support each other. That we are much more united than we seem to be able to realize when we are under the pressure of regular workdays.

I deeply care for every single person working at our company, and I am happy to see that this is the common way of feeling among these 100 people. We share our fears, we give each other hope, and we do whatever we can to keep the company running.

Home office is a form of separation, yes. But it is only physical. One way of overcoming this physical separation is to be well organized, and to communicate frequently and openly. The other way is to stay connected at heart.

With our everyday lives being slowed down and reduced to a minimum, we get a better look at who we are. Both as individuals and as an organization. For me personally, I am more determined than ever to be surrounded by loving people with a lot of spirit. And I am more convinced that as an organization, this is what unites us — and that we don’t need more than that to understand who we are and how we do what we do.

Having a great company is nice. Having a vision is fabulous. Being loving people is what counts. In times of Corona and beyond.