The Visible Invisible
In January 2020, everything changed. And, for a brief period of time, nothing made sense.
We went inside. We washed our hands. We stared out the window and wondered when the world would be the world again, and what that world would look like when this was all over. And the truth — the hard, horrible truth — is that no one knew.
But then we started learning, we started talking, we started thinking, and we started planning.
Here’s what we do know: everyday our lives are touched by the invisible.
The invisible of convenience and apathy:
Supply chains, delivery people, the homeless, education, our healthcare system.
And the actual invisible:
Germs, viruses, our deepest fears.
In January, an invisible collection of protein and RNA suddenly became visible to all of us. And in that moment, billions of people rapidly became aware that what had previously been invisible would never truly be invisible again.
That which was invisible by apathy became vital.
That which was invisible by nature became defining.
Billions of people are engaged, right now, in reordering the way they perceive and interact with the world around them. Billions of people are shifting their priorities, shifting their interactions, shifting the way they imagine themselves and their futures.
But this, too, is true:
The fiber that binds us together is inseverable and elastic. It was invisible before but now it, too, has become vital to all of us.
Today’s challenges are creating a shift in those fibers. They are being stretched and tested in ways that we’ve never seen before. And that type of shift requires a new type of thinking.
Childbirth, end of life, supply chain dynamics, how we care for vulnerable populations, education, healthcare — these are complex systems with no clear owner, facing extraordinary challenges right now. The decisions we make today will define what it means to be human for generations to come.
This new world requires new thinking.
New design.
New storytelling.
New connections.
It is a paradigm shift that will require fibrous solutions that will serve as a bridge to this new world. Solutions that are elastic and resilient, that can bend and stretch as the world reemerges from this moment of crisis. Solutions that will keep us connected even as we are forced to recede from connection.
We are living in uncertain times, but what we do know is that the visible will never be invisible again.
That together, we can ensure that what we build not only solves the problems of today, but also embraces the opportunities that come tomorrow.
That the sense of connectivity, empathy, and compassion that has become emblematic of this extraordinary moment continues long into the future.
The world will be the world again.
Who will you be in it?
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