Mountains, Molehills, and Thriving in Chaos

Monday, September 21, marks six full months since MVCC transitioned to remote operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those have been the longest, most complicated, draining, and unfamiliar 26 weeks, 182 days, and 4,368 hours of my life.

While we’ve been at this a while now, it still seems that at any given moment on any given day, something that normally would have been an isolated molehill can feel like an insurmountable mountain. However, since the start of the fall semester, I’ve noticed more and more people sharing what I would describe as normalizing chaos. I know we all are experiencing the pandemic differently, but there are some common elements that seem to apply to most of us at one point or another. It may be some armchair psychology, but here are a few helpful things I’ve learned from talking to others at the College.

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve said, or heard someone else say, “Just taking it one day at a time!” The idea of staying in the moment has never seemed so important, and is a key strategy for working through the chaos surrounding us. Wishing for the pandemic to end and for things to go back to our old normal is an easy but incredibly unproductive endeavor. I know when I let my brain go there, it increases my stress and anxiety levels in an instant. Slowing down and focusing on the moment can increase appreciation and gratitude for the moments we do have. Throughout the pandemic, I’ve noticed an increase in people recognizing others at the College; colleagues are expressing appreciation for the efforts of their peers for providing some kind of help or for just doing a great job. While this is wonderful to see in any context, it is especially important now — research has shown that when we practice gratitude in various forms, it makes us healthier and more productive.

I’ve also heard people, in so many words, managing their locus of control — trying to worry only about the things within their control and putting the things they can’t into a more productive context. In other words, if I can’t influence or control it, I’m going to call it what it is, and instead deal with the things that I can control. I’ve seen this result in myself and others who seem to be “making the most” of our current circumstances, and have been surprised at how creative we were at solving a problem.

Another strategy for thriving in this environment has to do with how people are managing their time. Our regular daily schedules have been turned upside down. Whether it be the normal rhythm of our children going to school, after-school activities, or even getting together with friends, everything has become more complicated. Making time for yourself and your own well-being has never been more important or more challenging. I recently read an article that suggests identifying a ceremonial or cognitive “moment” that ends your work day so that your work doesn’t bleed over into your personal evening/family time. Rather than doubling your time streaming or watching television, consider trying something new that you wouldn’t have tried otherwise. If you’re feeling in a funk, use the pandemic as an excuse to do that thing you always wanted or stretch yourself in a new way. Perhaps now is the time.

At MVCC, we’re starting the fourth week of our fall semester, and are six months into our first year of learning what it's like to operate during a pandemic. Some days are harder than others, but I’ve been inspired by stories from throughout the College in which pandemic-forced changes to the way we work have prompted innovative solutions that make us even better — many we will keep when the restrictions are lifted. And I guess that’s just it: Drawing on what Jim Collins identifies as the Stockdale Paradox in uncertain times, it’s healthier and more productive to focus on the belief that the restrictions will be lifted rather than to worry about when they’ll be lifted. Until then, taking one day at a time, focusing on our locus of control, and caring for our own well-being will help those molehills remain molehills so we have what we need when the real mountains get in our way.

I’d welcome your thoughts on this, as well as any strategies you’ve found useful in normalizing the chaos that seems to be all around us. You can contact me directly at presblog@mvcc.edu.

How I Spent My “Summer Vacation”

The Summer of 2020 was the summer that wasn’t for most all of us. The pandemic and related economic downturn sent many of us inside (except for front-line essential workers who still went to work every day) and removed most of the hurried rush from our daily lives. This allowed many Americans to slow down and see racial strife in our country in new ways.

It was unfortunate that media coverage of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests were overtaken by riots — much in the way the message of NFL players who knelt during the National Anthem to protest racial injustice was overtaken by those who amplified the alternative narrative to make the kneeling about the American flag. Nevertheless, I believe a good portion of Americans began to see, for the first time, that racism in this country is systemic, composed of several layered and troubling elements that society works hard to mask and downplay.

Maximizer is my top strength in the Clifton Strengthsfinder assessment, so I gave some thought toward how I might make the most of “the great slowdown.” I’m not a project person, so it wasn’t going to be about building something, although learning to play the guitar or taking up a new hobby were considered. After being greatly moved by the BLM movement, I committed to expanding my understanding of racial injustice in this country.

I was raised in a very homogenous community outside of Flint, Michigan, and my primary exposure to anyone different from me was playing basketball in the city. It wasn’t until I attended graduate school at the University of Michigan that I really spent any considerable time in conversation with people of different racial and religious backgrounds and sexual orientations. I found that many of my beliefs were rooted in a lack of exposure and understanding that led to stereotypes, prejudices, and bias. When I got to know people who were different from me, I began to see everyone as individuals. The more I got to know my fellow students, colleagues, and friends, it became evident just how much I had to learn about diversity and race.

Over the last 30 years, my career in community colleges has given me the opportunity to learn a great deal about race through reading, workshops, and many friendships, acquaintances, and interactions with others. As much as I thought I knew about race, nothing prepared me for what I learned this summer. My journey started with emailing a statement to the College on the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others, then reflecting on how to go beyond those words and take action — if only for myself.

• A friend recommended I visit the Justice in June website where I found a brilliantly curated inventory of videos, podcasts, and articles about race in America. I started with the 10 minutes a day routine and moved from there.

• I invited MVCC employees of color to join me for two rounds of meetings where many shared their experiences at the College and recommendations on how to make MVCC more inclusive. Their stories have inspired and changed me more than they will ever know.

• Netflix had a special section of shows about the Black experience in America, and “I Am Not Your Negro” caught my eye. It was a documentary that felt more like a film to me because it was done in a way that engaged me from start to finish. It focused on race relations in mid-20th-century America through the eyes of author James Baldwin. This led me to look up his “pindrop speech” at Harvard in 1965 on YouTube, which subsequently filled my “recommended videos” queue with fascinating resources about race that I would not have found otherwise.

• I took several different implicit bias tests from the Harvard implicit bias project.

• And on the recommendation of a colleague, I’m currently reading “Microaggressions in Everyday Life” by Derald Wing Sue and learning about the devastating cumulative effect of microaggressions that people of color experience every day. I have come to believe that microaggressions are a very uncomfortable valley through which white people need to walk and learn about the implicit bias that we all have — and yet, I’m embarrassed to say that I had never heard the term “microaggressions” until just a few short years ago.

You might say this blog post is the equivalent of the first day of third grade, standing in front of the class to present how I spent my summer vacation. At times it felt like anything but a vacation, with many uncomfortable moments and new revelations. As is the case with so much learning, it’s not as much about the answers you find as the questions you discover that make the difference in your growth. Looking back on this summer, which has been filled with so much stress and reasons to be sad, this work feels like the first few steps of a long, meaningful, and fascinating journey that will likely never end for me.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly at presblog@mvcc.edu.