Which new normal will you choose

when was last time you had the

opportunity

to dramatically change something in your

life

think back was it receiving a dream job

offer

the death of a loved one meeting someone

new

all of these examples are catalysts for

change

each creates the opportunity for a new

paradigm within one’s own life

whether positive or negative the

catalyst

opens the door for change and choice

paradigm shifts are equal parts crisis

and opportunity

i’m an anthropologist entrepreneur and

author

i use ethnography which is a fancy word

for storytelling

to document the paradigm shifts that

will echo through history

so those that come after us won’t have

to ask

why we made these choices or what it was

like

in 2015 i documented the paradigm shift

of the high-tech revolution by

interviewing those that lived its

entirety

people born before 1945. the resulting

book

shows an understanding of technology

rooted in our history

fast forward to march 2020

i’m living alone in a new city and

there’s a pandemic upon us

like everyone i’m scared but i did

what any social scientist would do

i studied it i have since interviewed

over 100 people in more than 30

countries

and continue interviewing people every

week

throughout these interviews i am

documenting a paradigm shift happening

in real time

one taking place over the course of

months

instead of decades

at the beginning of the pandemic people

banded together

in support of one another there are

messages of hope

encouragement and acceptance for what

must be done

but after a time the months of isolation

and fear

wore on people and they began to yearn

for what they knew

as normal saswa is a businessman

who lives in malaysia normally but was

stuck in india

during quarantine he said during his

interview

people were in panic mode it was a very

confusing situation where people don’t

know how to react

there was no clear indication as to what

to do and it was a huge

state of confusion

sure many of you can relate to the

uncertainty

and upheaval that saswa conveyed

after a time regulations relaxed

but the world was no longer the same

though it may soothe to believe we can

go back to normal

living through such a pivotal event

makes that impossible

as every individual sector

and system has been affected

every generation lives through at least

one seminal event

and each such event requires from us the

same payment

to support those most affected by the

experience

and to learn the lessons of the event

for the sake

of future generations

ours is the task to galvanize the

lessons that we learned

while we collectively pause so to save

lives

and stop the spread of our invisible

enemy

covid19 and in doing so

a new paradigm emerges

but what exactly is a paradigm shift

anyway

in essence everything changes at once

to put it visually the normal

that we thought was set in stone now

dissolves to sand

which is subject to the winds and tides

everything is affected in the upheaval

whether it be personal

or global during normal

or stable circumstances our minds

navigate the infinite

beautiful world we live in marvelously

by using filters like the reticular

formation

these filters help us to build habits so

we can navigate

our world without overwhelm for example

how many of you have ever arrived at

work without remembering the drive-in

driver’s ed teachers like to cite this

phenomenon as a precursor to

accidents but what is really happening

is these filters in our brains

have filtered out what is simply a

mindless habit

red means stop green means go yellow

means go low faster

and so every day we arrive safely at

work without recording to memory the

detail of the drive

our minds help us navigate this world

without overwhelm

until covet 19 when overnight

everything changed

it’s no wonder that the people in my

interviews are conveying a sense of

overwhelm

for not only has everything changed

everything

keeps changing day by day and we are

unable to form habits

it’s like living on sand

but the beauty of sand is that one can

take

what used to be solid rock now dissolve

to tiny grains

and build a sand castle

paradigm shifts are equal parts crisis

and opportunity

throughout my research i’ve seen a trend

despite the fear and anxiety of the

experience there is a call to hope

to learn the lessons of the event

natalia is a chinese consultant and she

said in her interview

no matter what is happening outside you

can find peace inside

these crises are scary but there is

always opportunity

our opportunity lies within such lessons

for example let’s take the lesson of

relationships

and how critical they are to the

well-being of the human psyche

technology can only provide a paper doll

of the real thing

as lori of the sault ste marie tribes of

chippewa indians

said during her interview she said i’m

sorry if i get a little emotional

but the isolation really hit me hard

today

my mortality is an issue but the

isolation

is devastating

is an event planner who is in

greece she too has seen her own

relationships change due to the pandemic

she said if so-called friends are not

close to you in this difficult moment

i realize that i don’t need these people

in my life

new people came into my life because of

online seminars

we started our friendship only online

and then

when regulations relaxed we met each

other

people can make a relationship even if

the beginning

is from a distance paradigm shifts are

equal parts

crisis and opportunity

indeed the way we think of each other is

changing not only because we can’t see

each other in person

but because some of the limitations we

now experience are limitations that

many always experience whether or not in

a pandemic

poomla is an innovation specialist

living in south africa

she asked those who will read her words

in the future to remember the lesson of

compassion

she said in history time has shown

over and over that a problem won’t get

fixed until it is faced

by those who are privileged

she went on to underscore that while it

may seem like a good idea

to take education online in a pandemic

that not everyone has a necessary access

what happens to the education of the

children of the bush of africa

who don’t have reliable internet access

equally what happens to the education of

the children of rural america

who also don’t have reliable internet

access

like landon a student in rural texas

who said i used to laugh when my grandma

would say

back in the day we had a party line and

if you wanted to use

the phone everyone on the street would

have to get off

and i would think wow that’s so

antiquated

but i literally have to get off the

wi-fi for someone else to use it

michael is a large format printer

who lives in england he suffers from

cystic fibrosis

a condition that affects his mortality

as well as

his lungs what he said during his

interview made my breath catch my throat

he said when the person in authority

says there will be deaths

there will be losses it’s me

michael i am the expected casualty

i have a serious disorder that puts me

at risk of death

so the whole go back to normal die for

the dao

imagine hearing that at 32 years old it

dehumanizes you

perhaps the able-bodied population

experiencing these limitations for the

first time

will develop compassion for those who

experience them

under normal circumstances and as a

result

provide more support in the future

paradigm shifts are equal parts crisis

and opportunity

now let’s take a look at the lesson of

control or our utter lack

of it we all had such plans for this

year but we had to let them go

to keep ourselves others safe

gregory is a publisher and author who

lives on armenia

he illustrated this lesson of control

during his interview

he said people are having to transition

out of traditional roles

in person and in an office to doing

things online

i can imagine this is putting a lot of

people in a panic grow or die state of

mind

nothing is really guaranteed so the

things you normally take for granted

you now will take preparations to

account for

when i interviewed brynn of indiana

she was preparing for the death of her

great-grandmother

and was concerned about the limitations

and lack of control

due to the shelter in place order

my family is preparing for the death of

my great-grandmother

and it’s hard to navigate how to suggest

a funeral would be needlessly unsafe for

the entire family

without coming across as disrespecting

her life

three weeks later brynn followed up with

me to say her great-grandmother had

indeed

passed away she said we’re all on the

same page

that shall be buried without a funeral

and will do a celebration of life later

when it is safe

though it is awful to be out of control

of being able to honor a loved one’s

life

the extra time that brynn and her family

received

meant they were able to prepare

something even more meaningful

nikki is a lawyer who lives in greece

at the beginning of her interview she

was

reeling from the lack of control that

she had

suddenly within her household

she said suddenly we found ourselves in

this new situation

where you’re surrounded by everyone in

the family and have to find a way for

work

to look after your family’s education to

look after your family’s medical needs

be the carer the breadwinner and the

housekeeper and

everything that comes with it it was a

very

demanding environment

a few moments later nikki was reflecting

on this lesson of control and realized

that lack of control in one area of her

life

had given birth to more control in

another

she said i feel that during the pandemic

i got to stay mo

stay at home a lot and i got to see my

children a lot more

and in a way i got to feel a lot more in

control of my home

i’ve been wanting to order photo albums

online for years and i finally got the

chance to do

it i filled a whole diary of stories and

lines my children shared with us

throughout the day

and it’s stories i would have otherwise

missed

in a way it brought us all closer

together

paradigm shifts are equal parts crisis

and opportunity

as for myself

hearing from people around the world as

their normal set in stone suddenly

dissolved to sand

like my own made me feel a little less

alone during quarantine

i heard my own fears concerns

and revelations reflected by people

whose lives

are very different than my own

we are more together than separate

and this has engendered in me an

unshakable hope

we are living history and it is a time

to be remembered and honored

we cannot go back to normal nor do we

need to

it is up to each of us to choose how we

will reshape our lives

and in doing so create a new paradigm

both for ourselves and the world

what will you choose thank you

you