In an exchange of comments following this post, my friend and fellow columnist at BIZCATALYST 360˚, the brilliantly talented writer, Laura Mikolaitis, expressed her challenges in coping with the changes imposed by the coronavirus. More specifically, she shared what I took to be her existential angst, brought on by the time we’ve all been given in which to reflect, to explore our circumstances and our possibilities, to determine the proverbial and often frightening next step.
Since many of us spend a significant portion of our lives doing what we’re supposed to do — as determined by parents, teachers, bosses, et al. — it seems as if few of us take the time to contemplate what we want to do.
Given that truth, I’ll share three things with you here;
- This, which I suspect some of you have seen before.
- This, which I hope some of you have seen before.
- The video below, which I hope all of you will see now.
At the risk of appearing to be presumptuous, I’ll offer this piece of advice: If there’s any way at all you can do it, take it easy. That’s right. Give yourself a break. Precious little of any constructive consequence has ever been accomplished under anxiety and stress. And most anxiety and stress is self-inflicted.
This is our time. This is your moment. Take the time to wonder and wander. Make some changes. I can’t predict what’ll happen. But I can promise you you’ll be amazed at what you learn about yourself.
Hi Mark, love this article, and I can say that anxiety and stress are real, and right now with all that is going on regarding the career I was in for over 20 years, I have to keep the stress and anxiety at bay, therefore I am soaking up the oil on my brush and applying it to the canvas. I will also be picking up a guitar soon.
Thanks, Mark.
We all suffer under the dark cloud of Puritanism.
H. L. Mencken suggested that “Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, is happy.”
I don’t believe in measuring success in global terms – ‘my breakfast, right now, on the porch is lovely’ is good enough for me. But if we felt driven to measure it, how about if we measured success this way: Success means no longer having to measure success.
Your guitars are lonely. Right now.
Be good. And well.
Mac
Yes, Mac. And I’ve missed my guitars. I’m about to part with my Hagstrom Super Swede and my Harley Benton HB35 in exchange for an Eastman T486. My Strats, of course, are going nowhere.
Thank you for the reminder about the loneliness of my guitars. And thank you for your comments.