It’s all there: the story of mankind’s life on the planet. From many sources we have learned what early man did as he encountered his life, her life, this planet, and time. Our life. What is it? What should it be? How do we understand it? What do we do with it now?
Let’s see. The Dead Sea Scrolls. Hieroglyphics, Bible, Koran, literature of record through millennia, all have reported what mankind thought at many points in the unfolding story of man on this planet.
What we could not read, we dug up in rock, soil and artifact. Bones. Cave drawings. Rock drawings in somewhat protected spaces. Archeology, biology, art, physics, social sciences, linguistics, anthropology, and so many other academic disciplines have told the tale of yesteryear.
Some sources are metaphorical. Some fact; some event; some inferred meaning; some lesson to learn drawn from the presentation. What is actual historical fact? What is artistic freedom of expression?
One thing we learned – change is ever-present. It is the variable that challenges social understanding and order. Order motivated governance systems. It created the need for economic systems. It evolved schools, worship of gods and idols, communication tools, tools to make things, ways to adapt the ‘things’ to fit more purposes, and how to change both the purpose and thing all at the same time.
Mankind did not sit still and let life happen. He/she stood up, thought about ‘things’ and acted. Those actions tell a story. Our story.
The story is diverse by region, weather, topography, bio-ecology and raw minerals. Water, soil quality, timber and rock. Resources to use in adapting to life on this planet.
Pandemic is yet another cause for change. Not of taste or style this time! No, a cause of ill health and death to avoid. We dodge a bullet of disease so we have time to learn more on how to solve it for good; or at least learn how to get along with it.
So, where does this leave us? You, and I, and our neighbors, family members and work companions? Will our jobs be there when we return? Or will those jobs be different? Can we do the new job description? Will the employer even still be in business? Will we need to find a new job, a new employer, and even a new career. Or a new community?
How will I know what is available and if I can fit the bill? You won’t. You will learn along with the rest of us as we navigate a new world of work and social interaction. Think about an entrepreneur who comes up with an idea for a service or product, and then figures out how to produce that for the open market. What does she or he do to make all of that happen? Logic is part of this. Knowing the situation, what needs are obvious, and what needs are hidden; having an idea of what can be provided to fill the need. Creating the ‘thing’ that will be marketed and used by paying customers. That is what the economy does. That is what each of us does in the multitude of actions that have to be done to make the economy work. And life itself.
We must invent the new, including our new career, our new self!
It may help to talk all of this over with people you trust. List the things that interest you the most. What passions are stirred within you as you scan the possibilities? Those will be the most likely careers to follow. Product design? Product production? Sales? Accounting? Forecast markets? Market research and measurement? Human resource management? Training and development of others in the organization? Information technology, space management, risk management and planning? All these and more beckon you and I to the new economy as it assembles for work. Whatever it is, and however it will appear.
This is history happening now. How we respond is the outcome. Cause, effect, result. Something happened to cause us to change. What effects in our lives did that produce? And what did we do to create a fresh outcome or result?
That is the story line. That is our history. Take it up and give it life!
While we are at this, it would help to remind ourselves we are in this together. Whatever our diversity, we are resource to one another; not foe.
May 31, 2020
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