What Can Happen During A Pandemic: Coping With The Gravity Of The COVID-19 Crisis

Before Isaac Newton was a “Sir” or a famous scientist, when he was a student at Cambridge University in England a pandemic called the Bubonic plague shut down cities completely, forcing him to return home for almost a year. While hanging in his backyard, where the wi-fi was lousy and he had not gotten the hang of Google Hang, he observed an apple falling from a tree.

“Great, I wonder if there are any laws about this ‘falling’ situation” he thought.

But he couldn’t look up anything about the forces of gravity. The wi-fi was the worst, because the internet had not been invented. He was forced to rely on his powers of noticing, observing and mathematical calculation which resulted in the greatest scientific breakthrough of the time- The Law Of Universal Gravitation.

Not to mention, he broke the record for computing pi to 15 digits. But that was just for (mathematical) kicks.

You could say that Isaac Newton was an improviser. He accepted the radical change in his life — the improviser’s “yes” to the situation. He noticed what was happening and allowed himself to be inspired by it, to think in a new, expansive way about something. He followed the observation to a discovery. This is what can happen during periods of great disruption. When all the familiar pathways are blocked, an improviser creates new ones. An improviser makes connections that others may not notice, between ideas, and between people, that cultivate new directions for our energy.

The pandemic that we face now is presenting us with disruptions and stress that seem to change and intensity with each passing day. As we observe the process unfolding in other countries we know there is hardship ahead that is perhaps unprecedented in modern life. We will need the improviser’s mind set more than ever: accept uncertainty, notice everything, observe what is good and what is working in our lives moment to moment as much as what problems need to be solved.

The gravity of the situation is real. But gravitation also deals with another reality, that planets — like people — revolve around and impact each other. In our century, the network that pulls us toward one another is social and interpersonal, but also digital and cyber. We can be in a healthy orbit with one another using the tools Isaac Newton did not have (but he would have been crazy about them). We get on Google Hang, use the positive potential of social media to stay connected, seek support, problem-solve, talk about ideas and keep each other afloat. Maybe we won’t go down in history and change the way people understand the workings of the universe, but we can stay open to the expression of our grit, our caring for each other and creative discovery. Its a theory.