Puzzling Our Way Forward (Thanks to Grace Goodman for finishing and photographing this 1000 piece puzzle.)

#nogoingback

Every third person I zoom or see or phone asks me when I think we are going back to normal. I quip ‘never.” Covid locked the door on the past and threw away the key. Forgive your grief and mine if I say I think that is a good thing. The before Covid time was anything but ideal. Why move back in with a roommate you didn’t like in the first place?

Remember the warring slogans around gay marriage in Vermont? “Take Vermont Back” meant no gay marriage. “Take Vermont forward” meant yes gay marriage. I am a yes person. And not just about gay marriage. But new things in general. I like to lean forward, not backward, to puzzle my way to a better time.

In the Before Covid Consciousness time (hereafter known as BCC), we had just heard that the United States wasn’t ready for a female president. We were also swamped in #metoo — and the swamp was rising. Was anyone surprised to find out that 71% of essential workers were female? Not me.

Since Coved Consciousness (SCC), the countries who have shown true leadership in times of crisis are run by women. Iceland, Taiwan, Germany, New Zealand have leaders that show us new ways of using power. Instead of weaponizing narcissism, the way our public…