Can you believe that last week was only the first week of the year? January is usually a month that seems to go on forever, but whew, chillay. Last week was rough. On Tuesday, I was already doing mental gymnastics to figure out how I could take the rest of the month off when Wednesday said, "Hold my beer.”
As I'm sure many of you were, I was instantly consumed watching the pure chaos descend upon the US Capitol. Even if I hadn't already been on the struggle bus, there is no way I could have effectively been anyone's coach or a self-employee for that matter. I canceled the rest of my afternoon. A friend of mine lamented that she wished she worked at a place where that was acceptable. Instead she tried to make sense of the news coverage in between meetings. I empathized with her. If I were still at my corporate job, I likely would have been doing the same, which is indicative of a larger issue at hand.
Regardless of your race, Wednesday's white supremacist attack was a traumatic event and we should all be granted the space to process that. Sure, for some, work may serve as a welcomed distraction, but it is the expectation to continue working under such circumstances that is misguided. It can be hard to focus on being productive when you literally don't know if you should be barricading your home. If an organization is not cognizant enough to consider that maybe these aren't the best working conditions, then it's probably not deserving of you or your best work.
We can't pretend that what is happening outside isn't affecting us on the inside, and we shouldn't have to hide it. We should be able to ask for what we need without reproach. And for those in the positions of power, it's important to grant that grace to others as well. Everybody's favorite internet cousin, Evelyn From the Internets, has a video entitled, Call in Black that perfectly captures the ideal way in which one should be able to operate as it pertains to the workplace: Sometimes you need a minute - "Oh no, it's not contagious. I just need a solid day to reaffirm my humanity to myself.”
