Linda Ihuthia. Kenia

02/04/2020

I sigh a lot when things are trying. Many times unknowingly. Of late, the sighing has increased. Even I am beginning to notice. But this sighing is not unwarranted. The world as I knew it is truly a distant memory that stood in the last century. Problems that I thought were insurmountable now seem trivial in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic that has completely consumed our now very sick world.

I sigh not because of helplessness because I have refused to be hopeless despite the situation that faces the world, that faces my country, my community, my business, my family… me. I sigh because of the uncertainty of things as I have known them. This pandemic forces me to look at life from a completely different lens. One that I am unused to. One that has direct and almost immediate consequences that are of life and death proportions or even life changing. Some that are complex that involve other individuals and families that are dependent to my business and other simple decisions around just staying home because social distancing is the best thing for others and myself. Before, I would have thought that I was being melodramatic about some of these decisions but today, now, that is not the case.

So what has changed? Everything! I am re-learning (again) that there is almost no space for procrastination. I’m a planner and I going to make use of that skill for the good of those around me unapologetically but with grace and love. For my family, I’m truly blessed and I have always known that. I’ll continue to hold them close: if not closer. My business, the reality is that it might not survive this pandemic but only time will tell. Mine is one that involves plenty of physical contact as we deal with bringing the outdoors into the indoors with plants, planters and all manner of green. And on this note, the world will need to seriously revisit issues that have only gotten half the attention that they need including issues around climate change and our environment. In our own way, my business has been influencing the way people look at making sure that their spaces incorporate that green – I hope we can continue to do so. My reality however is that I will need to reinvent and increase my scale and scope that will have impact. A work in progress. For my community, there is so much more that I want to focus; breaking down the learnings that I have had through my journey as an entrepreneur. Holding the hands of other entrepreneurs who need a nudge, an introduction, access to market, prayer, an ear. My country that honestly needs to be extracted from the clenches of corruption. For that I do not have an answer but hopeful in some way, this pandemic will reveal some solution. For my world, that all these collection of actions will somehow have an impact.

The reality is that we are more connected than we ever thought. We have to find the silver linings in the dark cloud that we are currently enshrouded. Of that I am sure. It will just take a day at a time.