It must be a psychological effect of this pandemic, but coming from restoring so much faith in humanity just the other day, my optimism took a big blow today. For one, my Twitter feed was full of politically fired up tweets today. And another, not everyone is dealing with the pandemic the same way. There are some who need more help than others. And being an advocate of mental health requires lots of strength and emotional resilience too.
I've realized that no matter how much you're willing to invest yourself in other people's problems, sometimes it's just beyond human capacity to do so. I've come to convince myself not to apologize for feeling the need to disconnect for a while, if only to preserve one's own mental and emotional state. We have to understand that not everyone is able to think and process things the way we do. Some can do it better than us, while some cannot. For those who cannot, we have to be willing to extend a little more empathy. This doesn't necessarily mean meddling with their affairs, sometimes giving them space to feel and process is enough support to give for that moment. This can be a challenge in the workplace not only during times of crisis, but in the daily flow of things. Personality dynamics is not only a crucial aspect to consider in establishing psychological safety within a team, it also affects the team's productivity.
"Speak human to human. Underlying every team’s who-did-what confrontation are universal needs such as respect, competence, social status, and autonomy. Recognizing these deeper needs naturally elicits trust and promotes positive language and behaviors. Santagata reminded his team that even in the most contentious negotiations, the other party is just like them and aims to walk away happy. He led them through a reflection called “Just Like Me,” which asks you to consider: This person has beliefs, perspectives, and opinions, just like me. This person has hopes, anxieties, and vulnerabilities, just like me. This person has friends, family, and perhaps children who love them, just like me. This person wants to feel respected, appreciated, and competent, just like me. This person wishes for peace, joy, and happiness, just like me." - Harvard Business Review
It pains me to see how, even amidst the worst global pandemic of our time, some humans can still only think about themselves and getting ahead of others. And how disagreements still get in the way of saving lives. Where is humanity in these situations? How can some people still prioritize image, recognition, blaming others, pointing fingers, and self-gain at a time like this? This reminds me of one of my favourite insights from the book Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Mankind is the cause of mankind's suffering:
“Crowley had always known that he would be around when the world ended, because he was immortal and wouldn’t have any alternative. But he hoped it was a long way off. Because he rather liked people. It was major failing in a demon. Oh, he did his best to make their short lives miserable, because that was his job, but nothing he could think up was half as bad as the stuff they thought up themselves. They seemed to have a talent for it. It was built into the design, somehow. They were born into a world that was against them in a thousand little ways, and then devoted most of their energies to making it worse. Over the years Crowley had found it increasingly difficult to find anything demonic to do which showed up against the natural background of generalized nastiness. There had been times, over the past millennium, when he’d felt like sending a message back Below saying, Look we may as well give up right now, we might as well shut down Dis and Pandemonium and everywhere and move up here, there’s nothing we can do to them that they don’t do to themselves and they do things we’ve never even thought of, often involving electrodes. They’ve got what we lack. They’ve got imagination. And electricity, of course. One of them had written it, hadn’t he.' Hell is empty, and all the devils are here."
Sounds a bit too harsh if taken out of context, I know. But if you read the book, you'll understand where I'm coming from.
April 2: COVID-19 positive: 2,633, with a total of 107 who've passed and 51 recoveries
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