Choosing Innovation Over Isolation Is More Than A Virtual Reality

I am fortunate to be able to continue to work virtually as a publicist during a time when unemployment is the highest that it has ever been in US history. Being single and quarantined, I know first-hand how it can be overwhelming to not only be separated from family and friends, but the everyday routine of life as I have grown to know it. For many people, waking up and physically going into work was a part of that daily routine. I recently organized a “Ladies Who Virtual Brunch” event on IG Live, as a way to stay connected and create a positive space where we can pour inspiration into one another. Refusing the catastrophizing narratives that can come with looking too far ahead as a means to gain control, these women are choosing innovation over isolation in embracing this new time.

Located in different parts of the world, all of the women shared a recurring theme of reorganizing and getting re-centered during this time. Myriam Maxo is a France based artist & designer who has exhibited her award-winning work throughout Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the United States. A sought after speaker at conferences around the globe; Maxo’s work has been featured on BET, BBC and Harper’s Bazaar. France being a couple of weeks ahead of the US in battling COVID-19, enabled Maxo to share a different view on the pandemic.

During brunch Maxo pointed out how the idea of “normal” wasn’t working and how we “need to move on from this experience changing the way we live.” Nibbling on a crepe with jam in her home office in Paris, she went on to explain the important role that perspective plays all of this and how in going back to the way things were, we will have lost the lesson.

Understanding your own personal coping strategies becomes that much more imperative when your whole life is changed in an instant during a pandemic. Shawna Marie Aarons-Cooke is a licensed New York psychotherapist, author and spiritual coach who shared how being sick during the month of January with symptoms that we currently associate with COVID-19 led her to an urgent care facility that was unable to diagnose her with the severely contagious virus. Sipping on a mango, spinach and cashew smoothie, Cooke encouraged us to “honor our spirit” during what can be viewed as a trauma state. Emphasizing that we know what we need as individuals, Cooke encouraged us to do the things that we are drawn to (sleep, exercising, cooking, reading, connecting via phone/internet, etc.). Cooke went on to share that during this “transition period where something is ending and we don’t know what’s beginning, everyone’s needs aren’t going to look the same (and that’s ok). Give yourself this time to feel whatever you are feeling and nurture it.

Keely B Styles is a celebrity image consultant that also owns SECUR boutique in New Jersey. Sipping on our mimosas, Keely and I exchanged a celebratory toast as she explained how she is using this time to read and work on her web site. Keely has built a reputation for creating an experience through styling that helps women tap into who they really are outside of “what life has made of you” or “how the world views you.” Sharing how she has never been allotted this much time to self-reflect/strategize, Keely explains that her calendar usually keeps her busy with her children or clients and she views this new time as an opportunity to give birth to something new.

“Be open to whatever comes next.” – Lisa Nichols