Covid-19, Day 13: A Massive Wake-Up Call

I’ve been sheltering in place now for 13 days.

Everything is different, yet for entrepreneurs like me who mostly work from home, it is eerily the same.

Sure my kids are home, devouring food faster than I can replace it.

And sure, I miss my hot yoga, my Orange Theory workouts, my weekly massage, getting my nails done, and seeing friends and customers at many of my favorite restaurants, and all across the country. It feels a bit weird too not to be on my way to my next adventure in that busy travel calendar I had for this year.

Yet I feel closer to people than ever before.

I spent two hours Saturday at an international yoga and dance party with 2,500 people on Zoom. I’ve been connecting and collaborating with lots of inspiring people on Whatsapp, Facebook, Zoom, and text.

I can’t think of a busier time.

All the same, I’ve got all the fears that most people have.

• Fear of being an asymptomatic carrier and making others ill.
• Fears of my 95-year-old mom dying in her Toronto nursing home without me being able to get to her.
• Fears of financial crisis and the implications of a delayed close on my funding round for my podcasting network.

These are very real fears.

Yet I’m also more inspired than I have ever been.

The Coronavirus is a massive wakeup call to all of us.

Have you noticed how it is shining a very bright light on all the ways our institutions are broken? The inequities and fault-lines of our society?

Have you noticed how some people are shining as “lighthouse” leaders while others fail the test of history?

I think this time is an opportunity for us to look inward – individually and as a country – and reevaluate “business as usual”.

What do we want to change?

What do we want to keep?

You know when you get “gut feelings” or the Universe nudges you when you’re on the wrong course?

I know from my own life that when we ignore those warnings, they just get louder and louder. Sometimes, for some people, things need to get really bad before we take action.

This is true for a country and the world as well.

Let’s use this time to find inner alignment, purpose, and strength.