If there’s one thing I noticed about our shelter-in-place time, it’s that the complaints did absolutely nothing about it. Complaining about a lack of work did not magically produce more work, the same as a lack of income. Complaining about the ordeal (challenge) of homeschooling (especially if there was more than one child involved) didn’t make it any less burdensome. Complaining about the lack of TP didn’t make it grow on trees. In fact, all it did was piss off anyone who was around to hear it, and it didn’t make you that much happier either.
More importantly, complaining about the possibility of getting the virus didn’t make it any less likely, and if you did, complaining didn’t make it go away any faster either.
Problem solving is the obvious answer to all of our complaints. Finding answers, resources, help with any given situation is always the way.
One of the most fascinating solutions many of us found for our self-isolation was Zoom. A phenomenal invention that most people had never heard of before the coronavirus. After all, we had FaceTime and Skype, weren’t they enough? However, Zoom became the ideal place for remote meetings, appointments and simple talks.
Which made me wonder, how did Zoom come about in the first place? Love. I’m not talking about loving the planet and everyone who inhabits it, I’m actually talking about the most common variety of boy meets girl (or boy meets boy / girl meets girl, take your pick), type one to one.
Eric S. Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom, when he was a freshman in college in China, he had to take a ten-hour train ride to visit his girlfriend, now his wife, and even though he travels on that train regularly (love will) for you), he really hated travel and tried to imagine other ways he could meet his girlfriend, without traveling. Some 15 years later, he was finally able to develop the virtual platform that he had dreamed of for so long. Zoom. What has allowed us to connect with those we love, so many years later.
If Eric Yuan could do it, why couldn’t we? Why can’t each of us take what we complain about the most and use our complaining energy better, that is, problem solving? Complaining about my inability to attend ballroom dancing lessons so dear to my competitive ballroom dancer heart was / is not getting COVID restrictions lifted any faster, and God knows ballroom dancing is one of Those up close and personal sports are probably last on the list of allowed activities.
Once I stopped whining, I decided to train myself to dance some new patterns and improve my basic technique one painstakingly slow day at a time. Is working. No, it’s not what I’d like in the long run, but at least I feel like I’m being proactive and productive by practicing in my kitchen, moving toward my living room goals. And when I choose, I remember Eric Yuan and how he developed Zoom.
What is it that you love to do, that you can’t given our current circumstances? Or can’t you do everything you want to? Or the way you would like to do it? Put your excellent creative mind to work (yes, you have one) and discover how to work on anything within the limits of our current experience. It is far better for your heart, mind and soul than inflicting your moans and groans on everyone, including yourself.