NL
DE
23 March 2020
The day of the first press conference we were kicking-off the course “Science Journalism and Communication”. These must be the best timed weeks in my life! First a holiday right between a sand storm and a pandemic, and then this. You can imagine the situation: a mind-blown journalist in front of the class. The students connected to the news of 4 different countries while following her introduction at the same time. Would we see each other again? Would there be food in the supermarket when we left the classroom? At that point I remembered that I only had one roll of toilet paper left at home. Should start writing these things down in my agenda too.
My whole structure was falling apart, but somehow I was still feeling energetic. It was a mix of pure nerves, curiosity and my mind already starting to come up with ideas. Now that days and thoughts have passed by, this new situation still strikes me as an opportunity to see things from a different angle. A small example: I’d never had to choose whom I will still see face to face. I reduced it to three people, possibly going down to two at some point. It takes self-reflection and honesty. Also maybe respect, patience and acceptance.
For work, there’s luckily always enough to do. Eager to get all the experiments done (and then do even more), I’d been leaving reading, making figures and writing “for later”. Now I found peace in doing all that without wanting it to go fast, fast, fast! And, just like many others, I’ve chosen a couple of new skills that I want to learn. No giving up to go do more experiments this time!
So I still get up early, stretch and go for a run. I feel so lucky: some friends back in Spain can’t sport outside anymore. I get dressed and have breakfast as usual, while slowly starting up with news and e-mails. At 10 o’clock I can join the NucMed coffee room at skype. And I have lunch while briefly calling someone. My father, for example -we hadn’t had a proper, long chat in months.
After work or in between, I can put my meditation course into practise, stretch and walk again, wash dishes. On Thursday I put my banana bread in the oven while having a skype meeting with my group at NucMed. I haven’t tried it yet, but just being able to do this… Heerlijk!
So here’s my advice (if I may): keep your rhythm, move and listen to good music. Look at your bucket list, get creative. Reach out to those you miss, be patient with those you live with, and share your personal “silver linings” with your colleagues. It’s time to sing from the balcony.
The day of the first press conference we were kicking-off the course “Science Journalism and Communication”. These must be the best timed weeks in my life! First a holiday right between a sand storm and a pandemic, and then this. You can imagine the situation: a mind-blown journalist in front of the class. The students connected to the news of 4 different countries while following her introduction at the same time. Would we see each other again? Would there be food in the supermarket when we left the classroom? At that point I remembered that I only had one roll of toilet paper left at home. Should start writing these things down in my agenda too.
My whole structure was falling apart, but somehow I was still feeling energetic. It was a mix of pure nerves, curiosity and my mind already starting to come up with ideas. Now that days and thoughts have passed by, this new situation still strikes me as an opportunity to see things from a different angle. A small example: I’d never had to choose whom I will still see face to face. I reduced it to three people, possibly going down to two at some point. It takes self-reflection and honesty. Also maybe respect, patience and acceptance.
For work, there’s luckily always enough to do. Eager to get all the experiments done (and then do even more), I’d been leaving reading, making figures and writing “for later”. Now I found peace in doing all that without wanting it to go fast, fast, fast! And, just like many others, I’ve chosen a couple of new skills that I want to learn. No giving up to go do more experiments this time!
So I still get up early, stretch and go for a run. I feel so lucky: some friends back in Spain can’t sport outside anymore. I get dressed and have breakfast as usual, while slowly starting up with news and e-mails. At 10 o’clock I can join the NucMed coffee room at skype. And I have lunch while briefly calling someone. My father, for example -we hadn’t had a proper, long chat in months.
After work or in between, I can put my meditation course into practise, stretch and walk again, wash dishes. On Thursday I put my banana bread in the oven while having a skype meeting with my group at NucMed. I haven’t tried it yet, but just being able to do this… Heerlijk!
So here’s my advice (if I may): keep your rhythm, move and listen to good music. Look at your bucket list, get creative. Reach out to those you miss, be patient with those you live with, and share your personal “silver linings” with your colleagues. It’s time to sing from the balcony.
