As the world begins to open up from its COVID-induced 13-month slumber, some things will come back, including the things we like, the things we don't, and the things that don't serve us so well. This prompts the question of whether we will hold on to the things we learned during this time and the things we actually liked during COVID. Will we be able to avoid forgetting the lessons we learned and the adversity that we and others faced during this time? Will we find a new way to a new normal that carries forward all the important realizations that the pandemic prompted while regaining the positive attributes of our pre-COVID lives? And finally, will we be able to find a balance between the two ways of living and working?

We can only achieve this if we are really clear on what we have realized and hold onto that as a central marker for our future decisions, individual lives, and our country's future health.

Today I share why we must learn not to forget what we realized during the COVID pandemic. I discuss how the pandemic has affected our relationships with friends and loved ones and how people have experienced a deeper connection with Mother Earth. I share statistics from Prudential that show one in three of us are unhappy or unfulfilled by our work. I share how COVID has made it painfully apparent that racism is alive in America, that economic inequality is worsening, that the world's poor are profoundly struggling, and that many of us walk the earth in fear and selfish states. I also explore how our communities run the risk of economic and cultural erosion simply because no one knows anybody, leading to caring less for others and the whole.

“The most important thing that COVID taught us is the importance of caring for others, and that caring in any form or degree is far better than not caring at all.” - Chris Colbert

This week on Insert:Human

• How the forced intimacy of COVID brought about a recognition that our loved ones are either love ones or not love ones at all
• Why we need to work harder to curate the friends and loved ones that we hold in our lives
• How the extra space to contemplate, think, imagine, and create, has affected the relationships between parents and children
• The intrinsic connection between earth and humans and why nature is something we should honor and experience often
• How Prudential’s study highlighted that 25% of all white-colored workers and 33% of millennials intend to bolt their job as soon as the pandemic is over
• Why we all need to step forward in any way we can to improve society and eliminate society’s divisions
• The dangers to community and culture caused by eCommerce, living more separate lives, and failing to get to know others

Resources Mentioned:

• Pulse of the American Worker Survey: Is This Working? - Prudential

Insert:Human - For a Better Life & Better World

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Insert:Human. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify

Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more seekers and problem-solvers, like you.

Join me on Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin. For more exclusive content and to claim your free copy of the first chapter of my upcoming book, Technology is Dead, visit my website.