I missed writing the entry yesterday, Sunday. Actually, I wrote part of today’s entry sitting in my car and finished the rest on the following morning in a coffee shop. To refresh, I talked briefly about the past year of pandemic during my most recent show of “Today In Leadership History” (seen on Facebook Live). Eight points or thoughts seemed significant to me. We’re almost half-way through more explanation of them as of today.

I invite you to continue below.

Point Three of Eight: From The Pandemic And The Turning Of The Earth Since 3-11-2020

The turn inward and inside has led to different places and revealed different foundations.

From the start, we’ve been compelled within. Within your home. Within your yard. Within your neighborhood. Within your basement or bedroom or bed. Everything has been driven inside, inward, internal to other things. This event of global proportions narrows to the tip of a key that opens your door. And it enters more than that.

The ultimate example of this tightening and enclosing is the inches of space measured from ear to ear, from the bridge of your nose to the edge of your chin. The material of a mask pressed against your skin. This reality has been true for a year, over four seasons, across holidays and rituals and traditions. Inward and inside.

Whether you complied or not doesn’t matter. Everything—the acceptance and the denial—has occurred in a larger environment of the pandemic’s existence. The earth doesn’t care what you think of its shape and motion. Believe what you wish, be it edges at the end of a square or returns at the back of a circle, the objects in the sky move as always. Some of them wink at you, perhaps in a teasing way. They see much and we know little.

Our inward and inside turns were steps toward something else. Years of arguments were wiped away as if they’d never happened: tasks and actions could be done over distance; obligations and commitments could be altered, shaved down, erased altogether. Allocation of time shifted. The passage of time shifted as well—it is that time already? From nowhere the new environment spun with cycles and cylinders that worked with surprising effectiveness. The startling news was the opening of common ground with everyone else doing the same thing. Yes, startling. It still is.

But about those cycles and cylinders.

Not everyone has them. Not everyone can get them. Not everyone knows the full in’s and out’s of using them. Which button? What glowing bead should be clicked? Why is this line lit up and this one smaller? Not everyone is built that way. And not everything can thrive that way. Like icebergs tearing back the side of the Titanic, the red dot of virus hit Americans and exposed daily life to killing depths. Safety was in the digital lifeboats where people linked up and connected. For the rest, well, a plank doesn’t float for long and no one can swim forever. The ocean awaits.

We’ll be picking up survivors from the dark and cold waters for years to come.

The struggle went inward and inside. Inward of the person and inside of their homes and buildings, their shelter. Millions of contests and clashes. Every mind, body, and soul was soldier and battleground at the same time. From minutes to hours to half-day and full-day, the struggle raged over personal fields and hills and valleys. Great victories resounded. Crushing defeats, too. The best results brought shouts of triumph: fewer distractions, renewed family ties, elevation of quality time, the clear evidence of productivity and continuance. The worst results left smoldering ruins: abuse, addiction, depression, and suicide. The sun blazed through the clouds and dimmed behind the smoke.

The pandemic was a pressing force. Each person went to sleep with the pressing force standing next to the bed. Come the rise from sleep and there it was. Legion without a face, holding the weapon of burden. Will the work get done? On you. Will the money be enough? On you. Will the children be able have a good day? On you. Will the list be checked? On you. Will the other who causes the most worry return the call or answer the message? On you. As much as a person reached out, received help, or rolled with the wave, the pressing force was on the brain, the back, the spirit.

A person has a foundation. It is inevitable. The pressing force was always curious about the foundation, the strength and source. And so, the pressing force wielded more than a burden—it possessed a course of direction and a sense of where the person hoped it wouldn’t go. Entry came through mind, body, and soul. An open way became an open wound. Probing fingers entered, turning and winding toward the foundation. There it is. Foundation found. Tap. Another tap. Strike. A harder strike. Push down and hold. More and firmly. The shock of pain. A wince, a twitch, a seizure. Pull it off and get it away. The inexplicable response: not yet, only when sleep comes. Then, the pressing force moves next to the bed.

Some days, many days, most days, for a year. The foundation is in an altered condition after the span of time inward and inside.

Quite a while ago, I remarked in one of my writings that we will see a reset of the relationship between local and individual on one side and national and international on the other.

Today’s Point Three, I hope, gives you a different way to approach one side of the local/individual—national/international equation. From such things are great Rivers of major change and major continuity formed. From such makings do they flow.

Thanks for reading. All the best, Dan