Patrick Mosher frames the pandemic as a year-long expedition and asks what you should pack for the next phase. He lists ten routines he changed, from nightly game nights to daily sauna time, and five gains he's keeping: a deeper marriage, family yearning, appreciation of beauty, broader connections, and intentional time. He wants you to do the same.
Chapters
The COVID-19 pandemic is an historical marker for this generation. For the past year, we've been on a journey into an unknown territory with physical, psychological, and even spiritual challenges. We've been on a year-long expedition. And expeditions have extraordinary goals. Lewis and Clark began their expedition to explore the great unknown territory of the American West, on May 14, 1804. Their goal was to find a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. Shackleton began his expedition to the South Pole on December 5, 1914. His goal was to cross the Antarctic continent from one coast to the other via the South Pole. One met the expedition goals, the other did not. And yet both expeditions gave us stories of extraordinary courage and leadership. Well, if your goal of the COVID-19 pandemic expedition was to return to status quo, to arrive where you started, well, you may have achieved your goal by now. And on the surface, things seem to be returning to normal. However, if a return to status quo was your goal, you missed something quite powerful in the journey. And you know what it is? Well, like Shackleton, Lewis and Clark, our pandemic expedition threw untannable obstacles in front of us. It took us into hostile territory where people were not so friendly. COVID-19 tested you, it tested me, it tested our community, and it was and is a test of our humanity. And we are emerging different. So before you just turn back to normal, I offer you a challenge. Take stock of what you've learned over the past year and let's evolve our humanity. Consciously journaling your learnings from the past year is like packing your bag with essentials for the next leg of our humanity's expedition. Lewis and Clark and many of their men kept journals. Here's what one of his men wrote 217 years ago on June 13th, 1804. We proceeded early on our voyage, passed a small creek on the north side in a long bend of the river, and encamped on the mouth of the Grand River on the north side. This is is as handsome a place as I ever saw in an uncultivated state. In the midst of facing life-threatening difficulties every day, this foot soldier noted beauty. So crack open that journal and begin writing. What 10 or more things changed your routines over the last year? Don't think too hard. Keep it simple. Go. All right, well, here are my 10 routines that changed for me so far during the COVID-19 pandemic expedition. I watched less TV and added game night every night with my wife. I miss not seeing my daughters or their families for the holidays. Zero travel and saved a lot of money. Sauna'd almost every night, which created reflection time. Spent much more time in the yard and the garden. Hundreds of Zoom calls. And due to my COPD, I self-quarantined. Dropped 10 pounds. And walked into 6 commercial buildings from March 2020 to May 2021. And cleaned out stuff in the garage and the basement. So those are my 10. Do you have your 10? Okay, here's step 2. From the last list you just created, identify 5 things you gained over the last year. Go! Okay, so here's my 5. A deeper relationship with my wife. An aching yearning to see my daughters, their partners, our grandchildren, and even their lovable dogs. Huge appreciation for beauty in and around our home. Stronger and broader connections with friends and colleagues. And more intentional curation of my time and energy. These are the precious items I packed in my bag for the next leg of this extraordinary expedition. All in all, I simplified my life by jettisoning what's not needed and by retaining the precious things that are. What did you pack?
