Why Women Have a Special Perspective
Deepening gender inequality because of pandemic-provoked recession is a serious issue for women because the virus is still holding ground worldwide. Is it winning? Hopefully not – but it is a grave issue all the same, with multiple consequences, unlikely to end even when the mass production of the vaccine reaches us.
The Time magazine summarized the burning issue of violence against women on the rise worldwide, due to the Covid-19 pandemic—a direct product of deepening inequality and helplessness of the fair sex.
Handling the Pandemic Experientially
“Learning by doing” is the main principle of experiential learning, the most engaging technique of today. It so happens that during the last year the whole world was slowly learning HOW to handle the pandemic experientially, i.e., avoid:
- getting infected.
- being a patient at a hospital’s emergency bed.
- approaching one’s death sooner than originally planned.
Why learning experientially? The global community knew next to nothing about Covid-19, and was forced to learn on the go, as the pandemic unfolded. The cost of it was high—and it may only go up – if we, the people, do not share the lessons learned as widely as possible. So, let me share what I have got.
Five Guidelines for Snapping Out of Serial Bad News
- For me, the best way to cheer up is to get out for a one-hour walk around our neighborhood. Thank goodness, it is so sparsely populated that for a whole hour I can meet only a couple of dogs walking their owners ?. By the way, I noticed that the dogs, big and small, stopped barking (and spreading their bacteria around). Could it be their special way of observing the government’s guidance on social distancing? With the proverbial animal intuition, they might feel grateful they could still get out for a walk!
Taking the same routes every day puts one in a better mood.
- At home, a people’s person, I love connecting with my friends, virtually of course, so I was learning to Zoom. Staying in touch, chatting, hearing their news, being supportive and supported, has acquired a new meaning under the pandemic. This time proved to be the best part of my day—and I recommend it to you too.
- I enjoy cooking – and cooking a dinner for two (it is just my husband and myself in our NJ home lockdown) can be especially festive—with a favorite dish or apple strudel or having a meal in the dining room instead of a kitchen, or even using the best china typically saved for the big occasions. Let us make the best of it! It helps to snap out of the not-so-uplifting news about the pandemic and vaccine deficit!
- Not to forget: a home gym, whether mini or medium, is precious both for your health and spirit/distraction. Our gym is in the basement, and we added some nice gadgets, of which my absolute favorite is a small round trampoline for 30-minutes running (doctors say it is gentler on our spine than any treadmill). It may be boring to spend 50-60 minutes exercising – but not when you turn on music. I always dance to the first melody, looking at self in the wall mirror and imagining how – and with whom! – I will be dancing when out of lockdown. Thus, working out starts the day, and it became a part of my daily routine; a good beginning is half the battle!
- Most importantly, I practice distracting my mind from the serial bad news, generously supplied on the web, by engaging it to research HOW all women can do best under the pandemic circumstances and beyond. I learned to continually share my thinking – first at my book web site blogs and then at my new talk-show episode series (watch for example, Giving Voice to the Voiceless https://youtu.be/V7c0q3ZsZ8E). I started producing and hosting this talk-show in June 2020, inviting the prominent American women to the interviews – and The Bridge for Women Worldwide, today a 5,000-subscribers-strong YouTube channel, provides content “for women by women” – which proved to be popular, unsurprisingly, because we women express our genuine concerns openly, providing food-for thought, as contrary to explaining how to best apply mascara ?. What I mean is, you can create a meaningful talk-show too! Make yourself visible contacting me at The Bridge – or start your own show – and bring more goodness to the world of women and the deserving men! The proof I have been perfecting my skills experientially, on the go, is the fact that my latest episodes have been posted with appropriate added thumbnails, and you can see it clicking on the picture below.
The world is learning to handle the pandemic experientially—and so shall we.
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