There has been a lot of language recently about how everyone is in the same boat. And by now we’ve seen some of the backlash to that statement. There are better analogies to be had.
The sameness we’re experiencing – and one that is important to acknowledge – is that we’re all in the same over-arching context. The global impact of the virus and the responses to it all over the world have caused a shift in almost everyone’s life. Our common context is the shift.
The differences – which are equally important to acknowledge – are the ways in which this shift has affected us individually.
It’s important to find a path to hold, acknowledge, care for, and celebrate the experiences of sameness and difference we all are experiencing.
There are those who will lean into the sameness to the ignoring of any difference. There are those who will highlight our differences to the ignoring of any sameness.
The extremes are lies. Of course we have differences. Of course we experience sameness. We have both experiences. And we all lose when we don’t acknowledge both.
Maybe we’re not in the same boat. Maybe we each have a boat, but are in the same river.