Reinvention and the Function of Humankind

“The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.”

-Marcus Aurelius

All these weeks into a global pandemic and the pot of life is simmering with feelings of excitement and hope. On one end, because it seems we finally have a chokehold on the virus for the moment — in Australia at least. The world seems to be getting its bearings, no longer unprepared for challenges ahead. And on the other end, because there is so much innovation and opportunity calling out to us, drawing us in like the smell of freshly baked banana bread.

On a personal level, I saw my parents yesterday for the first time in almost two months. And that was glorious.

On a more zoomed out level, it’s a beautiful time. Tabula Rasa at its finest: A blank slate from which we can reinvent our businesses and ourselves.

I have written before of the gratitude explosion that seemed to come with Covid-19. In addition to that, though, the forced halt means we have a time to look into our lives from the outside: What we focus on, how we run our business, where our dreams and passions really lay.

Many ancient philosophers believed that as humans, our function or unique role in the world is to use our rationality (Aristotle) or to live in accordance with nature (Stoics like Marcus Aurelius). For Aristotle, all animals and instruments have a special thing that they do. For most animals, they come instinctively, like the spider that weaves webs, the…