EdHart.meI’ve had so many conversations lately that at some point hit an “a-ha” moment, one that goes something like this: “Can you even believe it was less than a month ago that everything was going great. It seems like an eternity…” The corollary is also true. Can you believe it was just over a decade ago that we were pulling out of a recession that was quite likely the worst economy that most of us ever experienced?
This past week has been one of spectacular beauty and color as the southern spring awakens. What a contrast to the news and the solemn tone when shopping the empty aisles in the grocery store, as I did yesterday evening. I know that not everywhere in the country is experiencing the same excellent weather this as I write this, but in the deep south, where I call home, we are, in the words of ee cummings, in Just- spring.
As we enter into the second full week of remote work, I’d like to provide some encouragement as well as a few helpful resources (from my company page) as you get adjusted to a “new normal” for at least the short-term future. While we are all going through this pandemic crisis together and responding as best we can to the onslaught of constant information, I believe it’s helpful to revisit some guiding principles with respect to both investments and life.
One of the most common refrains I hear from people is how busy they are. I’d almost go so far as to say it’s the defining complaint of my generation. And it kind of makes sense to me that the rise of busyness has coincided with the accelerating pace of technology and the information overload that it has produced. More options, more access and more social media fueled FOMO than ever before has created a hyperbolic schedule-to-time ratio that more often than not leaves us exhausted and depressed.
I built these mid century modern nightstands to compliment my recent platform bed, but this stylish design is versatile enough to go with just about any contemporary decor. This is also a really great project for a beginner to intermediate DIY woodworker and can easily be knocked out in one or two weekends.
I’ve been thinking this weekend about how the timing of the coronavirus has coincided with the season of Lent. Lent doesn’t seem to get a lot of press this day and age, unless you’re Catholic or are part of a more liturgical Christian persuasion, but it can be very instructive in times like these.
Where I’m writing from, we’re at the end of the first real week of a fundamental shift. This is the first week of working exclusively remotely and of not having access to toilet paper. The first week of not being able to run out to a restaurant for lunch or catch up on my email in the coffee shop a block away. The first week that virtually every event on my calendar for the next few months was cancelled.
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” – Philippians 2:4-8
This week, many of us are settling into a “new normal,” one that may last for a couple of weeks or perhaps longer. At this point, who knows?
As a part of our company’s culture building, we’ve developed a list of 21 Standards that define who we are, what we do and how we do it. Prominently displayed in the office, the standards are designed to be daily reminders for everyone of how our culture and ethos differentiates us from the competition. This year, one of Drew’s ides to help reinforce the standards at a personal level is to have everyone pick a standard or two and write a short essay on what the standard means to them. Here’s my 3rd standard:
