The Great Pause. How to reinvent yourself.

It’s May 2020. The city is completely deserted. I’ve been unable to take such beautiful pictures of Prague since I first visited it in 1995, and tourism was significantly less than it is today.

It’s a bizarre dual feeling.

From one perspective, the joy of the silence, the empty streets, and the city’s beauty in the sun. But there’s also the reality of COVID-19. Everybody in the streets walks with a face mask. All stores, cafes, bars, and restaurants are closed. I get my cappuccino at my favorite corner cafe through a small window in a to-go cup.

At home, we’re all together. The kids are home from school. One loves it; the other misses his friends. My wife and I both work from home. We’ve built solid weekly habits of talking through our meals, one extensive weekly shopping trip, and splitting up our cooking. The cooking is an excellent preparation for the kids when they go to study. We frequently take a walk outside in the forest behind our house. We play games together. We talk. We’re probably more connected than we’ve ever been.

COVID-19 is a pause. Some authors have even called it The Great Pause.

It’s a pause because everyone is unaware of what’s happening and how things will develop. There is nothing…