For all it’s challenges, I’m fascinated with the cultural shifts around it.⁣
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For example, my ministry coaching groups have been on Zoom for years, but I used to have to convince people that they could build real relationships and feel a connection with someone they’d only ever met online. Now people know that real relationships can be built through those little Brady Bunch squares.⁣
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Offices that stubbornly believed people who worked from home wouldn’t get any work done are discovering that many people are more efficient at home. ⁣
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Other organizations that were resistant to moving online (I’m looking at you, almost every church) have now normalized it and are strategizing ways to continue an online component.⁣
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The necessity of educating everyone at all levels through Zoom is super challenging, but rethinking schedules and delivery systems is a good thing. My teacher friends with older students say that online or hybrid is better for certain students who face a variety of challenges at school. Why not continue to offer that option?⁣
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Auditions and performances that required everyone to be in certain geographical locations are now filmed at home. When we stop missing the audience and instead think of it as a whole new medium to explore, artists become adept at working the Zoom camera in all new and creative ways.⁣
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Relationships, workflow, worship, education, creative expression, the very fabric of our humanity is being challenged to grow in new ways. Of course, I can’t wait for certain things to happen in person, but instead of thinking of it as “going back” I now think of it as adding the richness of a face-to-face component into a whole new way of doing things.⁣
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What have you discovered as a result of your Zoom Life?⁣