COVID-19, a Learning Opportunity?
Learning to Fly, Cairo 2018.
It is reasonable to assume that, to one extent or another, we have all learned our fair share about COVID-19. What should we do or not do to avoid spreading the virus, and how should we adjust our lifestyles to cope with the different aspects of this crisis? If anything, more than ever before, people have learned to appreciate and value healthcare professionals worldwide—as they put their own lives and those of their families at risk—to compassionately care for the lives of others.
Regardless of how exactly we might have embarked on the COVID-19 journey, I imagine that by now, we all have found a rhythm and ways to cope; we might be carrying on with normal activities where possible, creating new ways to do the same old things, or even coming up with brand new things to do. Among my friends, I've prospect politicians emerge, philosophers and spiritual part-time sadhus, Netflix curators, aspirational healers, health tale-tellers, conspiracy seasonal activists, do-ers, and plenty of cleaning frenzy enthusiasts. Others chose to work on long-forgotten projects, build their businesses, or tap into unexpected creativity pools. Regardless, one thing is sure: we have embarked on this journey, and all chose to do something while it is ongoing, even if that something is "nothing-ness." (Side note: contrary to what anyone might suggest, doing nothing is a hard thing to learn, just being, is challenging and stillness can be a struggle at times, I am learning it the hard way, but undertaking my "learning journey", patiently).
In keeping up with loved ones, colleagues, social media challenges, and the news, I've noticed a trend; many of us also took this "down-time" as an opportunity to learn formally or informally. There seem to be plenty of articles suggesting that COVID-19 spiked up creativity, higher education enrollment via MOOCs, companies supporting employee development programs via platforms such as Coursera, Edx, or LinkedIn Learning, and several free offers for well-being online classes.
To bring it back, this journey is a learning opportunity in every form and shape! Regardless of your learning focus, we are learning and, hopefully, using these learning insights to develop ourselves. Whether you are learning a new skill, taking the opportunity to practice a new instrument, learning a language, or just learning something completely random about yourself, I'd like to invite you to see COVID-19 as an opportunity to tap into that learning (whatever that learning might be for you).
On that note, with no bullet points or prescriptive text on how to do it better, I would like to invite you to consider the following questions:
What has COVID-19 taught you about yourself?
What learnings will you be able to transfer into your "after" COVID-19 life?
Whatever that might be for you, and whether you feel it will help on your journey, the underpinning thing here is to reflect and connect any and, if possible, all learnings to its importance on self-development.
Link to articles:
↓Leave your comments below - I'd love to hear from you. Let's explore COVID-19 personal learnings and insights together #covidlearnings #lifelonglearningmindset
