The crisis is forcing us all to show solidarity. Despite unexpected obstacles, the population is using many creative and spontaneous means to increase comforting exchanges. Digital initiatives are being shared to build connections and provide a social safety net from a distance. Social interactions are changing day by day, and people are slowly adapting to their new reality: mandatory social isolation. Hundreds of doors in Quebec have been decorated with rainbow designs, the hashtag #çavaaller is trending across all social media, and public figures are mobilizing to positively influence their communities. We want to help local businesses, those on the front lines of the healthcare system, the most vulnerable, and those who have been laid off from their jobs. Brands are relying even more on the community to offer moral support to their consumers. It's no longer about sales, but about solidarity. We try to be as optimistic as possible and to reap the benefits, since it seems increasingly clear that it is creativity and proactivity, the collective awareness by which we are all linked, that will get us out of this crisis.
The current crisis is hitting a large proportion of workers hard. As a marketing coordinator, I consider myself more than fortunate to find myself in a situation that allows me the flexibility to effectively adopt teleworking. My salary has had virtually no negative impacts, and I only have to provide for myself. I also feel supported by my employers, a fundamental aspect in staying focused on concrete and realistic objectives. In addition, I managed to take refuge in nature, where it's good to get out and get some fresh air at a time when we're all holding our breath for fear of being contaminated. I found myself in a "safe" cocoon, well wrapped up. These moments of retreat in nature are more than precious. When fear scenarios take over my mind and slow down my productivity, I can do what the great experts of this world recommend: exercise. A good dose of generously secreted serotonin thus reduces the harmful fear and anxiety that take over the privileges that I have managed to grant myself in these times of withdrawal.
Companies need to restructure their marketing strategies. For our part, social media, our blog, our newsletters, and all other forms of platform have become a true place of mutual aid and resources. My tasks have been completely redirected to adjust to this pandemic and offer tools as best I can, at the age of 24. So I made it my mission to enrich myself as much as possible with the tools I saw passing by to give back to our digital community. We have completely adapted to the general trend running through our society. No longer focusing on selling our products, but offering moral support and sharing positivity on our platforms. I interviewed several experts in human resources and psychology, and attended a 6-hour webinar on HR management in the era of the pandemic given by the CRHA, despite my minimal expertise in all these areas. These tools have, on the one hand, calmed me and given me a sense of control, but despite this wealth of resources, I still feel back where I started today. That first day when I wondered if all this was real and when I caricatured passersby with their masks already fitted to their faces. The day before when we wonder if the Quebec spring will be a moment of ecstasy and a large, cold pint on the terraces to enjoy the first 10 degrees.
A feeling of guilt runs through me in this favorable position. Powerless in the face of the worsening pandemic, I remain frozen, guided by my anxiety as a first-world person. I realize that this pandemic is getting the better of my determination despite this access to all possible resources. Writing in this context is becoming a dizzying and arduous exercise for me. I sometimes feel drowned in the flood of resounding information that reaches us every second and that keeps us at "attention" so that nothing escapes us in the countdowns, the press briefings that follow one another. I am completely obsessed with notifications and I try to convince myself to do my 9 to 5. Even if I know that I must limit reading them, I find myself mechanically immersed in them, looking for the article that can enlighten me on the changes to come.
I spent several days trying to write an article about stress management while working remotely and found myself frozen by the over-information and the weight of the content I had to mold it to the grayish and ridiculously slow WordPress layout. Losing patience. Adapting to a new work environment, not being distracted by announcements, not looking out the window hoping there would be a more interesting action than your neighbor who is going out to smoke his 10th cigarette of the day, being ashamed that all these factors have really become an obstacle to my little life as a young communications professional.
Providing quality, useful content during this crisis has become a huge challenge. In a blogging context, it's often necessary to adopt a more positive tone than an alarmist one, while also offering original tools. But how can I fulfill all these functions without becoming anxious? I really asked myself what I had to contribute to this crisis alongside healthcare professionals, lawyers, politicians, and workers in the essential services sector. How can I find my place in this whirlwind of infobesity and add value to the actions already underway by society? A feeling of incapacity and helplessness overwhelms me. I can't find the perfect words as I try to manage my own inner nothingness.
I try to convince myself that society was built in such a way that everyone finds their own path to take, according to their skills and personality. Isolation has allowed me to refocus on what I can contribute in this time of fear and endless questioning. Time has stopped. We find ourselves forced to face personal flaws that were much easier to bury, when our work occupied the majority of our lives. Taking the time to do things and taking care of myself have suddenly taken on much more meaning in my life. I am able to recognize my qualities and the strengths I can rely on in times of distress.
It is these skills in themselves that can highlight our professional tasks and become a lever for our motivation. We must refocus on what really matters to successfully provide any assistance in this crisis situation. It is through sensitivity, resilience, and our desire for progress that we will all be able to write, help, communicate, cook, share, and love in order to move forward together. Integrity and humanity will be our pillars during this historic period.
A crisis that gives rise to new forms of solidarity
The crisis is forcing us all to show solidarity. Despite unexpected obstacles, the population is using many creative and spontaneous means to increase comforting exchanges. Digital initiatives are being shared to build connections and provide a social safety net from a distance. Social interactions are changing day by day, and people are slowly adapting to their new reality: mandatory social isolation. Hundreds of doors in Quebec have been decorated with rainbow designs, the hashtag #çavaaller is trending across all social media, and public figures are mobilizing to positively influence their communities. We want to help local businesses, those on the front lines of the healthcare system, the most vulnerable, and those who have been laid off from their jobs. Brands are relying even more on the community to offer moral support to their consumers. It's no longer about sales, but about solidarity. We try to be as optimistic as possible and to reap the benefits, since it seems increasingly clear that it is creativity and proactivity, the collective awareness by which we are all linked, that will get us out of this crisis.
The current crisis is hitting a large proportion of workers hard. As a marketing coordinator, I consider myself more than fortunate to find myself in a situation that allows me the flexibility to effectively adopt teleworking. My salary has had virtually no negative impacts, and I only have to provide for myself. I also feel supported by my employers, a fundamental aspect in staying focused on concrete and realistic objectives. In addition, I managed to take refuge in nature, where it's good to get out and get some fresh air at a time when we're all holding our breath for fear of being contaminated. I found myself in a "safe" cocoon, well wrapped up. These moments of retreat in nature are more than precious. When fear scenarios take over my mind and slow down my productivity, I can do what the great experts of this world recommend: exercise. A good dose of generously secreted serotonin thus reduces the harmful fear and anxiety that take over the privileges that I have managed to grant myself in these times of withdrawal.
Companies need to restructure their marketing strategies. For our part, social media, our blog, our newsletters, and all other forms of platform have become a true place of mutual aid and resources. My tasks have been completely redirected to adjust to this pandemic and offer tools as best I can, at the age of 24. So I made it my mission to enrich myself as much as possible with the tools I saw passing by to give back to our digital community. We have completely adapted to the general trend running through our society. No longer focusing on selling our products, but offering moral support and sharing positivity on our platforms. I interviewed several experts in human resources and psychology, and attended a 6-hour webinar on HR management in the era of the pandemic given by the CRHA, despite my minimal expertise in all these areas. These tools have, on the one hand, calmed me and given me a sense of control, but despite this wealth of resources, I still feel back where I started today. That first day when I wondered if all this was real and when I caricatured passersby with their masks already fitted to their faces. The day before when we wonder if the Quebec spring will be a moment of ecstasy and a large, cold pint on the terraces to enjoy the first 10 degrees.
A feeling of guilt runs through me in this favorable position. Powerless in the face of the worsening pandemic, I remain frozen, guided by my anxiety as a first-world person. I realize that this pandemic is getting the better of my determination despite this access to all possible resources. Writing in this context is becoming a dizzying and arduous exercise for me. I sometimes feel drowned in the flood of resounding information that reaches us every second and that keeps us at "attention" so that nothing escapes us in the countdowns, the press briefings that follow one another. I am completely obsessed with notifications and I try to convince myself to do my 9 to 5. Even if I know that I must limit reading them, I find myself mechanically immersed in them, looking for the article that can enlighten me on the changes to come.
I spent several days trying to write an article about stress management while working remotely and found myself frozen by the over-information and the weight of the content I had to mold it to the grayish and ridiculously slow WordPress layout. Losing patience. Adapting to a new work environment, not being distracted by announcements, not looking out the window hoping there would be a more interesting action than your neighbor who is going out to smoke his 10th cigarette of the day, being ashamed that all these factors have really become an obstacle to my little life as a young communications professional.
Providing quality, useful content during this crisis has become a huge challenge. In a blogging context, it's often necessary to adopt a more positive tone than an alarmist one, while also offering original tools. But how can I fulfill all these functions without becoming anxious? I really asked myself what I had to contribute to this crisis alongside healthcare professionals, lawyers, politicians, and workers in the essential services sector. How can I find my place in this whirlwind of infobesity and add value to the actions already underway by society? A feeling of incapacity and helplessness overwhelms me. I can't find the perfect words as I try to manage my own inner nothingness.
I try to convince myself that society was built in such a way that everyone finds their own path to take, according to their skills and personality. Isolation has allowed me to refocus on what I can contribute in this time of fear and endless questioning. Time has stopped. We find ourselves forced to face personal flaws that were much easier to bury, when our work occupied the majority of our lives. Taking the time to do things and taking care of myself have suddenly taken on much more meaning in my life. I am able to recognize my qualities and the strengths I can rely on in times of distress.
It is these skills in themselves that can highlight our professional tasks and become a lever for our motivation. We must refocus on what really matters to successfully provide any assistance in this crisis situation. It is through sensitivity, resilience, and our desire for progress that we will all be able to write, help, communicate, cook, share, and love in order to move forward together. Integrity and humanity will be our pillars during this historic period.