What a week. To be honest, I fully expect this to not be widely read because there are other very important things to be putting your attention to right now. However, if you are like me, and you feel like a little reprieve from the ongoing negative news surrounding the COVID-19 virus – maybe this is an opportunity.
I might be a doctor but I’m not the kind that can give you any helpful information on the virus or things surrounding it, so I won’t try. For that, I point you to some folks that are working hard to put out helpful information such as Tim Ferris (@tferris) and Peter Attia (@PeterAttiaMD) who have had some great podcast guest on the subject in the last couple of weeks. Obviously, there are many doctors that are keeping folks informed and I encourage you to find them on social media, the CDC website, and others.
So what do I think I can speak to? Fellowship. We are entering at least a few weeks of the most physical isolation that has been called for since 1918. If you’ve been to a grocery store lately, you get it. If you have kids, their schools have probably decided to close down for weeks. Your job has maybe sent you to work from home. Folks in charge have canceled any events you wanted to attend. It sucks. Nevertheless, in tribulation comes opportunity. When was the last time you had one to three weeks to be with your family and your own thoughts? I would guess maybe never for most of us. As Bill McKibbon put in his piece earlier this week, “We can’t lay on hands, we can only wash them: in fact, the way we’ve been explicitly told to help is to stay away from one another.”
The third principle of LIFE is to champion fellowship. I even wrote a piece on how face-to-face interaction is the most powerful way to build deep and meaningful relationships with others. That isn’t an option right now. In my upcoming book, I’ve written a lot about how people often unite in times like this such as disasters and tragedies but we can’t in the same way through this one. It doesn’t mean we should hole up and not talk with anyone. We live in an era of unprecedented technology that will allow us to stay connected in new and creative ways. It is also an opportunity to find and learn from new people who will be putting out awesome content as they have the time they never did before.
In Italy, a country further down the path of infection than the U.S., has seen people leaning out their windows to sign together above the empty streets. Churches across the country are holding services online and providing interactive spaces for people to share thoughts and ideas. We were born for connection and if we let it end, I think we let the virus win. Others have written some cool pieces on this same topic recently including Jamil Zaki in an article published for the Washington Post. His university set up a Zoom “Coffee Room” for colleagues to get together and chat informally whenever they would like to. Other companies have created similar spaces for what would normally happen as folks walk the hallways of a workplace.
As my work with the Brothers LIFE Council is concerned, it isn’t working that I’m thinking about most. It’s the relationships that truly make us thrive – our family and friends. The ones you live with, you’ll get more time together than ever in the next few weeks. Lean into it. It might be tempting to self-isolate even in your home but don’t. The isolation of the world that causes so much loneliness is sure to return as the virus passes through. For those you don’t live with, you have to be intentional and take the lead don’t wait to hear from people, be the one they are waiting to hear from.
Late last week, I realized this for myself. I wondered how my brothers might be handling the chaos as husbands, fathers, leaders, and all other roles. It has been a lot to handle and they have a list of people who they are responsible for in some way or another. After an hour of wondering, I decided to take action (weird how all good things happen when you start to take action…). I didn’t do anything extravagant. I picked up my phone and texted each of them to simply check-in and see what they were going through. The conversations in response have carried through this entire weekend.
This Week’s Challenge
Pick up your phone or log in to your computer and reach out to some friends. People are handling this in all sorts of different ways but no matter what, knowing we aren’t alone is helpful. If your friends are feeling anxious and fearful, togetherness battles it. If they are feeling out of sorts because they don’t understand the panic, it’s helpful to have a calm voice for them to talk to. It doesn’t have to be fancy or elaborate, just do it.
As a bonus, learn something new this week. I’ve been sitting on a class from MasterClass from Malcolm Gladwell for way too long so this week it’s going to happen. I’m also finding all sorts of new people of social media that are doing work related to my passion for creating more meaningful relationships among men in our society so they can be stronger fathers, husbands, employees, and leaders such as Ryan Michler at Order of Man, Path to Manliness, and Jeff Putnam at Rugged Legacy.
Oh and don’t use this as an excuse to leave your training behind because you’re not getting to the gym. A bunch of fitness folks are putting out cool “at home” bodyweight programs and doing so for free. Bobby Maximus offered his No Gear program yesterday and Onnit still has their ONNIT 6 Bodyweight program that I’ve personally really liked. If you’ve seen others, share them with me on Twitter @Ryan_MacTaggart and I’ll happily send them out to folks.
I truly believe that we have a duty to consider the wellbeing of others at a time like this. Take care of yourself and your family but remember that the world is way bigger than you. Do your part to build a connection. Take care of each other. Operate with love. Maintain your integrity. Champion fellowship. Pursue excellence. (Maybe I’ll create an additional post this week on living LIFE at this time…stay tuned)