Finding Inspiration In Times Of Crisis

Linkedin asked me what I wanted to talk about when I opened the tab this morning…and for the first time in a long time I found myself actually wanting to talk, to share my story. A story of questionable life choices, unemployment and anxiety. But also one of hope, creativity and purpose.

Like most of us, I’ve been on a journey trying to find my way through the global crisis over the last few months. However rather than drowning in the grief and loss that surrounds us all, I’ve found myself surprised, delighted and nourished by sharing and listening to experiences and perspectives that are not my own.

So I want to talk about inspiration and where to find it in times of crisis. Because it’s much needed and in low supply at the moment.

Quitting Pre-COVID

Yes, I was one of those. The poorly timed fools that decided to quit, with no job to go to, pre-COVID. I don’t regret the decision, it was fundamentally the right one for my general wellbeing, but it certainly wasn’t the right one for my mortgage. The lock down ‘locked down’ four days after I returned from my sabbatical and with it came the hellish realisation that I was about to jump into an impossible job market. Scrolling through Linkedin each lunchtime was the most soul crushing experience of my day. Roles regularly appeared with over 200 applicants and the surrounding media reports on unemployment rates did nothing to calm my nerves.

Slowing Down Was Not An Option

Many say COVID-19 could well provide us all a valuable platform to reflect, to slow down, to pivot, to transform. Having worked in the innovation space for many years, this is a familiar concept — that remarkable innovations and advancements of knowledge can emerge from times of strife and restriction. But applied to my real life, it all felt wildly unrelatable. To be so optimistic felt like an unacceptable luxury. I was never going to invent the next light bulb — I just needed to get paid.

I found myself uncharacteristically sinking into a quagmire of pessimism. I applied desperately (and ineffectively) to jobs, hid myself away, stopped writing my book (one of my biggest joys) and found it hard to coax my imagination out of the hole it had crawled into. I couldn’t apply myself to anything wholeheartedly because, quite frankly, my heart felt inexplicably broken.

Just Pretend. Stay Curious.

One morning I woke up with Neil Gaiman’s wonderful words bubbling around in my head (I’d watched his commencement speech the night before — something I always do in times of calamity):

‘So be wise, because the world needs more wisdom. And if you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone who is wise and then just behave like they would.”

So I decided then and there. I’d experiment* with optimism. I would pretend to be someone who is optimistic for a few days and just behave like they would. I’d ignore my thunderous thoughts of pessimism, isolation, shame and feeling useless. I’d make believe for a moment and stand in the shoes of someone that felt connected, proud and useful.

And most importantly. I’d wake up curious to see if it worked, rather than assuming that it wouldn’t.

Embracing The Virtuous cycle

Jung called it synchronicity, others refer to serendipity — whatever your thoughts, from the moment I started pretending, I suddenly found I had no need to. My curiosity was rewarded with meaningful surprises at every turn. My questions were met with generosity (of time and advice), smiles were met with smiles, honesty was met with an embrace (albeit virtual). My vicious cycle was almost instantly replaced with a virtuous one.

• I forced myself to engage with linkedin. Not scroll or voyeur, but actually engage with it. I took a stranger up on his generous offer for some career counselling and connected two people looking for book recommendations (and found myself saying yes to joining a global community of like-minded souls studying creativity in solitude as a result — random but so rewarding)
• I forced myself to reflect at the ends of my days. I realised that every night I’d get angry that I hadn’t progressed with writing my book (why the hell aren’t you writing when you’ve got all this time on your hands?). Sure job applications etc weighed heavy on my mind, but the book was the one that I beat myself up the most about. So I started an experiment to write for two hours every morning as soon as I woke up. By day three I’d made more progress on my story than I had done in two months.
• I addressed my boredom. Everyone needs time off, boredom is said to be an important part of the creative process. But my boredom was being filled with an acute scrolling addiction and it was wearing me out. My precious time was being devoured by a mindless consumption of my phone screen. So every time I felt the addict’s pull of thumb-to-app, I made myself do things (crafts/bake/exercise/read — just something that didn’t involve my phone). I found myself feeling energised, not exhausted.
• I began retelling my story. With the support of my network I wrote my CV and took new professional headshots (using a pile of old books as a tripod, a clean wall as a studio and a quick ‘re-download and delete’ of instagram for some retouching!). I began feeling proud about my past again.
• I built my Bridges. ‘Weak ties’ is a term you might be familiar with in Network Theory… I prefer the term ‘Bridges’. Bridges are those connections in your networks that act more like acquaintances (compared to strong ties like friends, family or project teams) and they can prove more influential than your stronger ties. Seems counterintuitive but research shows that these ‘Bridges’ help introduce and disseminate new information, perspectives and ideas; thereby promoting creativity, innovation and fighting confirmation bias. I experimented by checking in with my past collaborators, colleagues and old friends. The experiences we shared together helped me process my own and we started finding ways to offer help and support where we could.
• I found new ways to work. Over such a short period I was never going to completely address my pay-check. But that didn’t have to stop me developing my skills. I volunteered my community leadership expertise to cause close to my heart, WIN: Women In Innovation, and was immediately thrown into the most energetic, supportive and talented global community I’ve ever come across. As a result I’ve just been appointed at their Global Community Lead and feel useful again.

All these small actions don’t amount to much on their own, but together they inspired me to move forward. My imagination had surfaced. It worked… so I carried on experimenting.

There’s Energy At The Edge

If there is one thing you take away from my experience it is this: there is energy at the edges if you’re open to exploring them.

These may be edges of disciplines or conversations, communities or geographies. They’ll likely be outside your ‘well-known’ and you’ll not be well acquainted with them yet. That might sound uncomfortable and it’s supposed to be… forging the future, your future, isn’t supposed to be comfortable — it’s supposed to be exciting and empowering.

Embracing the divergence of the new perspectives you find on your journey will help you reframe your problems. Because all problems are really just opportunities that haven’t been properly mapped out yet.

So, if you’re stuck at home and struggling for inspiration at the moment (for yourself or your friends/family/team), why not try this… a challenge if you will.

Why not wake up tomorrow and pretend to be someone that loves to explore… and just do what they would do. Just remember, not all maps lead to physical spaces (of which we’re all restricted at the moment); some lead online, others to within ourselves, others haven’t even been finished yet and that’s the fun.

Why not explore the edges available to you right now:

• Comment on a stranger’s Linkedin post. Start a conversation.
• Experiment with Tea Stain Art… yeah it’s a thing and so so easy. Give your imagination some exercise.
• Use your free medium subscription to read about something outside your usual… like fraud in science (I’d recommend this if you’re curious).
• Try yoga even though you think you might suck (FYI no-one can suck at yoga).
• Join me for a virtual coffee — I’m pretty sure I don’t know you yet but I really do love coffee.

The idea is not to succeed… it’s to experiment, to energise.

Success comes later, from understanding where to put all this new energy once you’ve got it back. So stay curious about where the experiment might take you.

I truly want to help people and give back what I can. So if you want to explore the edges with me, sign up to my newsletter here; The Edge Atlas. It will give your inbox a dose of inspiration, a prompt to imagine and maybe even connect and create. (NB — I have no idea where this will take me but that’s kind of the point, you’ll be joining me for the journey).

Or let’s just have a coffee… I can’t promise what the future will hold, but I know we’ll have an interesting conversation at the very least. Comment below and let’s chat.

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* As an aside I’ve found experiments excellent ways to frame stepping into lifestyle changes. There’s less crippling pressure of the risk of failure (which often results in inaction). Rather, ease the pressure on yourself and just try and do something for 2 or 3 days. It doesn’t require the self-help book iron willpower of gutting your house, applying to 30 jobs in a day or journalling for the next 10 years… it simply encourages a spirit of curiosity to see what happens. If it doesn’t work reframe your experiment knowing no real time was wasted, only knowledge gained. If it does work (and I promise it will) you’ll see small benefits straight away. Sit into them, enjoy them, use the energy they give you to do something nice for yourself or pay it forward by doing something nice for someone else. Feed the virtuous cycle.