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One minute you are thinking about your date that night and the next minute you are on a mission that ends in enemy casualties and destruction you will never see. The question that comes to my mind is about how someone can live in those two realities. Both are real situations but they are radically different. They both expect the whole person to be engaged and tear at the person that is living in both. Again, "How do they do it?"
But as I have thought about it more and more, I realize that those Air Force pilots don't have that unique of a situation. Many of us are living in two realities.
Let me give you an example. During this pandemic there are realities in your home where you are in lockdown and then you log into your Zoom or Skype call for a meeting, a talk with a friend or church. Just like that pilot, we are managing multiple realities on a daily basis. You might be sitting in a small apartment in a large steamy city somewhere on the Equator but looking into the face of someone living in a suburban single family home. Someone else might join you from a mountain cabin or a beach town.
Your virtual meeting might be handling an emergency with dire consequences for countless people. Then you hang up and go make a sandwich.
What does living in these multiple realities do to us? Those around us who don't live in "Zoomland" might ask of us, "How do they do it?" And they would be right to ask that question. What you are living in day after day of working virtually is a bit of an out-of-body experience.
While the technology that allows for virtual work is amazing and very helpful. It has some significant implications for our lives. Here are only a few:
- Ghost Living: I've noticed that the more I toggle between my two realities as I work virtually, the less human I become. I am not present in either reality. My family is forced to ignore me as I'm plugged into far-off places and those that I'm meeting with only see a small window into who I am and what my world is like.
- Where's the Water Cooler: When we toggle between realities there is no watercolor time. One minute you are talking with a family member about who is going grocery shopping and the next minute you are making a presentation. The down-time in both worlds evaporates as you have to use your precious moments in each reality to get practical details taken care of.
- Asking about the Weather: I've noticed that even in virtual work we talk about the weather. It is engrained in humanity to discuss our physical surroundings. But when you are working virtually, the weather you are discussing is your own and you are hearing about the weather of others. No longer is the weather a shared experience. You might say, "Yesterday was glorious! We went on a long bike ride." And the person on your call may respond that it was raining all day where they live. Simple things that used to bring us together now are individualized experiences to be reported rather than shared.
Each of these implications are examples of the challenges that face those of us working virtually. I know that this isn't everyone's experience, but I think that this pandemic will install this reality as a reality for a significant portion of those who live in the Global North.
Actually, I'll share with you that I have been working from a home office for two years before the pandemic. I actually enjoy it very much. So I don't write this post out of frustration or despair.
Instead I write this so that we will think about the implications of living in two realities. If we simply shrug it off and say that it will not impact us (and those we live and work with), then we are mistaken. Like every work environment, it requires thoughtfulness, boundaries and intentionality.
What will you do to be fully present in each of the realities you manage in this age of virtual work?
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