The social acceptability of being a hermit

You’ve gotta like long titles like this!

Greg Storey thinks out loud with his business partner and sums up for our benefit:

After experiencing an incredible range of highs and lows in the last two years we both concluded the following:

  • The pandemic shone a light on who people really are deep down
  • A lot of people are having a very difficult time climbing out on the other side of the pandemic

None of this has to do with vaccinations, whether you got them or not. I write that because I know someone reading this is going straight to blaming vaccines because that’s the world we live in now. It has everything to do with a thought Anthony Baker shared with me a few days ago: “It’s become more acceptable to be a hermit.”

(Pet peeve, though: I wouldn’t say the pandemic is behind us. Lockdowns, yes. Contagiousness, not so sure, from what I read.)

I like the Anthony Baker quote. Something of a stigmata for people who find it tiresome to always be in a public space has somehow become socially acceptable. People in general now accept that you may be prone to saying “not today”, or “I’m too tired to endure a group outing”, etc. You also see this when it comes to trainings, which up to the lockdowns were mostly done face-to-face or as a hybrid between face-to-face and e-learning sessions. Now most people are comfortable to ask for remote trainings and/or full online programs.

I know a lot of people who bear a lighter burden now that it’s acceptable to say no. So yeah, silver lining etc.

Also, read the article in full: Greg shares a lot of good insights, not all as positive as the one I’m talking about.

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