What I have been doing for the past 45 days

I have not used this blog in a while, and I have made the decision that there will still be professional posts, but from time to time, I will record what I am seeing on a personal level. So, these are some musings on life under COVID-19 after having been on essentially lock down for the past 45 days. They are random, and some may resonate with you and others may not.

This journey started for us while we were out in California, and we came back early under the assumption that the LA airport might well be shut down. (Fortunately, it wasn’t). Some thoughts and observations that I have had.

• I am enjoying reading some of the Twitter hashtag threads, especially as they relate to current events. One of my favorite early ones was #DiefortheDow and #Leadershipin5words is another one where I found it interesting what people thought. Some are a macabre, some are funny, some are dead serious.
  • I also can get easily lost on TikTok, which is new for me, and is just a fascinating slice of society.
• I am watching way too much television, especially the news. Much of it is repetitious, but I am starting to look forward to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily talks. Mayor Bill de Blasio isn’t bad either.
  • On the other hand, I am puzzled sometimes at what Governor Ron DeSantis (FL) has to say. And the Governors of Georgia and Texas are just inexplicable.
• I don’t go out all that much, except for walks and going to the supermarket, but am tired of washing my hands 37 time a day.
  • The flip side is that I do like that the streets have much less traffic on them, which in South Florida is a very good thing…
• I seem to get about 20 requests a day for Zoom meetings, and the majority of them are for things I have no interest in.
  • Conversely, the Zoom meetings that I am interested in, I can’t seem to get into.
  • The ones I have gone to have been fascinating.
• I have done more online mentoring. This has been fun for me.
• I have also driven my online class at Lynn University crazy with my level of engagement 🙂
• My spam mail has definitely gone up, and since I have 6 email accounts, it has become very noticeable.
  • I am definitely tired of COVID-19 emails and how various people want to help me get through this. Take another approach, please.
• At least here, it is very hard to get paper products, disinfectants, flour and meat. These isles in the supermarkets, supercenters, drug stores, dollar stores, etc. are just bare. When you see any of these, you need to grab them.
• Takeout from time to time is fine, but I do miss eating in a restaurant.
• I am definitely getting to bed earlier. I’m not sure I am sleeping any better though.

I would love to hear some thoughts from you about how you spend your day. Tell me something great!

Advertisement

Does community always matter?

…and additionally, is “community” always the same or does community look differently depending on time, circumstance and context?

Enter a caption

A Cosplay gathering (Image courtesy Pixabay user nile | CC0 Public Domain)

Brain Solis has been quoted as saying: “Community is much more than belonging to something; it’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter.” The sentiment expressed here seems to be that belonging for the sake of belonging may drive longevity, but it definitely does not drive engagement. At least not in long run. Engaging together as a group in an activity is what makes belonging matter…at least from a community building perspective.

But is that actually so? Do we need to be involved in the sense of “doing something together” to be a community? Does community always equal engagement? Are communal activities always needed to drive community?

It seems to me that sometimes, we just want to be a part of a community, and that there are different levels of commitment, but all may be communities. After all, there are valid arguments that belonging matters more than engagement in the sense of shared activity: it matters to us for visibility…or the size of the group may be what matters… or we may belong because the group inspires trust. In fact, there seem to be times when just belonging for the sake of belonging is what matters. And these “communities” are often vibrant. The real question though may well be: are they long lasting or just a moment in time?

I have listed some references below that speak to various aspects of this thought. I’d like to know yours.

Just belonging matters:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201203/it-is-motivating-belong-group

http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/18/belonging-matters-researchers-halve-racial-gpa-gap-with-brief-exercise/

Visibility matters: http://gradworks.umi.com/36/63/3663476.html

Size matters: http://macdgroup.com/2013/10/15/why-size-matters/

Trust Matters: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00661/full

Take Your Time to Eat the Donuts…

I recently have been reading in various sources (for example, NFR Stores) that Dunkin Donuts has been upgrading sites with a new design that encourages people to linger.

This is an interesting progression in the Dunkin Donuts lifeline. Being originally from the northern Mid-Atlantic region, and having spent significant time in NE and the upper Midwest, I saw coffee shops (DD in particular) as a hangout place. At the time, they had actual counter service (like a diner) and you could also choose a booth or table. Lingering was actively encouraged, as incremental sales occurred from additional time and the products had significant margins. (I hopefully scoured the net for a picture of DDs in the 80’s but had no luck…)

<

But the feeling also prevailed that was OK to know the staff (and they you), and also the regulars. Some people seemed to pretty much hang out there all day…they were there in the morning and they were there at night. It was the nonalcoholic meeting place of choice, in a time where focus on drinking and driving was just coming into its own.
In recent times, DD has seemed more focused on getting people in and out of the store, pushing the use of drive through windows and generally depersonalizing the locations. In these days of relationship building, the time to re-engage has arrived.

While the new technologies (TVs, wireless, comfy chairs) will help the cause, I think the main objective to once again achieve a feeling of comfort and welcome, of community, and to convey that it is once again OK to just hang…

I for one hope they do achieve this, as it was always more homey to hang in a DD than it ever has been in the more eclectic and or pseudo retro coffee shops today….