Evolution: can we see it happening?
In a world that is constantly changing, the only constant is change.
Original article written and published May 17, 2020 on LinkedIn (updated for Medium)
Every morning, we wake up armed with information that we have learned from the day before. Whether we realise it or not, this information is changing us.
The changes may go unnoticed, they may be small and incremental, but they drive us forward into the future — equipping us with the necessary tools to live in a modern world.
Sometimes we are directly responsible for a change, sometimes not, but it’s how we adapt to new situations that ultimately define and shape us — this has been true since the dawn of time.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is 2020 speaking…
…we’re about to experience a bit of turbulence.”
When the original article was written, back in May 2020, the year up until that point had been an unsettling one — if truth be told, it was chaos.
But a lot of good can come from chaos — such as the genesis of a new order.
Not only were we facing an “unprecedented” threat in the form of a novel virus, but the global pandemic made us realise that we are mortal — and just how vulnerable we are to the things we can’t control.
The road we were speeding down before our species got nudged onto the hard shoulder was smooth and flat, but there wasn’t much of it left.
Just up ahead lay a bumpy, potholed-filled, long stretch of uncharted terrain that would have forced us to pull over eventually and reconsider the path we were on.
COVID-19 was a catalyst for change.
The Times They Are a-Changin’
COVID forced us to reflect on the way we had been living, how we behaved, and how we did business.
The way we were acting as a civilisation was not sustainable, everyone knows this.
We pursued profit at all costs — not ‘we’ as individuals, but the collective ‘We’ — and it was a problem long before 2020.
Climate Change had been the topic on everyone’s lips for some time — and it still should be — but it never seemed pressing enough to really do something about it on a planetary scale.
So, when a global pandemic threatened our way of life, it took the freedom of choice out of our hands and required us to do what we couldn’t do before…
Change!
We must remember to give ourselves credit from time to time — we have the weight of the world on our shoulders, but we are only human.
We are just another domain of the Animal Kingdom. But we are an industrious kind, constantly adapting to our environment, and that is exactly what we are doing today.
It’s still business…but not as usual.
People have been hit, HARD, but many have found new ways to roll with the punches.
We are learning that we don’t need to fly thousands of miles to shake hands and discuss terms, polluting the atmosphere as we do so.
We are reassessing our consumer habits — opting to buy from, and support local businesses.
We are realising that going to work doesn’t have to mean commuting every day to sit an office. We can be just as, if not more productive working from home.
We are connecting with others more than we ever have — even though we are further away — and both personal, and professional relationships, are stronger than ever.
And we are even looking at the ways we structure and govern our nations and its social services.
There is an almost tangible feeling of a communal sense of purpose and responsibility to make the most of a bad situation.
Times may be uncertain, but the uncertainty is overshadowed by a beautiful, glowing, silver-lined cloud that promises sunshine soon after the storm.
The Boat That Rocked
As crazy as times seemed — and may still seem — this ship will ride the waves and find calmer waters.
If we just hold the course in the right direction, and everyone rows together, we will eventually get back to dry land — though some things may have changed whilst we’ve been away.
Life is not all plain sailing; it’s an adventure.
It can be cruel, it can be tough, and it can be demanding, but it is an adventure nonetheless — and adventures build character.
Some of the biggest changes in history have come out of disaster — civilisations falling, and new ones rising up from the ashes.
We will never have Utopia — let’s not fool ourselves — but let’s hope that we are building a new and improved version of the world we left behind — a culture more suited to the reality in which we live.
There have been a lot of positives to take from the negatives, and it is those which we must adopt as we evolve.
We must keep collaborating, but change how we work together.
We must keep our sense of pride, but change our attitude.
We must keep the qualities that make us human, but change the ones that dehumanise.
We must keep striving for a better future, but change the way we do it.
Stay strong, stay true, but don’t stay the same…
…in a world that’s constantly changing, the only constant is change.
And that’s all Evolution really is.
Tell us in the responses:
- How has COVID has affected your life?
- What effect will COVID have on our evolution?
