I’m sitting here essentially locked-down (regardless of what colour the current lockdown is). I write at my desk or discuss on camera or ponder life on long walks and imagine the world in a couple of months. What will normal look like? How long will it be before we know?
I also still spend a lot of my time talking about how important it is to get doing things. Any things. The sort of things that unless you start doing them they are not going to happen.
The two things seem opposite. On one hand, do it now. On the other, wait for something. Well, it turns out that some things you can do, and some other things are out of your control and you have to wait. Right now, the key to being successful and staying optimistic is Patience.
I see patience as a skill.
Over the last year I learned how to bake. Not only did I learn the chemistry of baking, I learned patience. I learned that you can’t speed up yeast that’s been frozen. You can’t mix too fast to make dough or batter without a lot of kitchen cleaning (trust me on this). You can’t rush cookies to heat at 350, nor can you rush them to cool when they come out of the oven. Waiting is a part of baking. In the end you get a delicious treat that’s worth waiting for and you didn’t have to risk a visit to a store.
When normal returns, my normal will include both of these skills. I’m expecting that in re-inventing normal*, I will be more patient and maybe less stressed about waiting for something. Normal will also include more baked goods created by me.
You can put patience to work right now. Things are looking good. Your vaccination is around the corner and there’s reason to be optimistic. But we need to be patient, and encourage others to be the same to keep everyone safe and healthy.
Over the next couple of months, until you get your shots, be patient. And if you haven’t yet baked something, do it now, and wait for some amazing results.
