My application to speak at a TEDx conference
“The world as we know it came to a halt in the pandemic. Each of us has a different conception of what key features comprise of “our world.””
Introducing an article that made it to the second round of interviews for the TedXNewHaven conference. This piece explores a unique perspective on a topic that affects us all - Covid 19 or any other unexpected life events. I compare the opportunities of Covid to a natural disaster in my hometown to shed light on a subject that is often overlooked. I couldn't present the article at the second round of interviews due to work commitments. Thus, I am sharing it here to ensure that these insights and ideas are heard. So, grab a cup of coffee and get ready to dive into this inspiring piece that will challenge your thoughts and hopefully leave you with a new perspective.
I grew up on Westman Island, a small island with rich history and only 4000 inhabitants, just outside Iceland's south border. The island's history stretches back to the first settlers reaching Vestmannaeyjar before they came across Iceland and to recent highlights such as the Keiko, the killer whale in Free Willy, being trained in Vestmannaeyjar for his re-entrance to the wild. History has its ups and downs. I'm here to talk about the valleys of emotional trauma in Vestmannaeyjar in late January 1973, the re-emergence after such disruption of life, and how we who have lived through the pandemic of Covid-19 can learn from those experiences.
Let me take you back to December 1972. My father was about to reach his fourth birthday in April 1973, and my grandma was expecting her second child in May 1973. Just as life was fruitful for my family, so was the case for the whole society in the Westman Islands. Westman Islands have been in constant growth over the last couple of years, with abundant labor entering the island to experience the fastest-growing industry in Iceland, fishing. There was a constant flow of young people entering the island to participate in the industry as the new territorial waters had recently been expanded to 50 nautical miles from 12. This was a massive revolution for Westman Islanders, as we thrived and made our living through catching, working, and selling fish. Moreover, the ocean gods had been explicitly generous in 1970-1972, the harvest was in sync with the god's generosity, and the buyers were even more abundant. To sum up, the tiny island of Westman Island owned 8.4% of the nation's export value in 1972, and the population had never been denser, with 5273 people living on that tiny trade island. Everyone wanted to be a part of this revolution. We know that history tends to repeat itself, so let me pause here and point out the parallel story of 2020, where technology is taking significant steps toward globalization. Big cities with technological innovation are thriving; everyone wants to participate in data, tech, and innovation.
Now back to my family and the people of Westman Island enjoying the prolificacy of life. My grandmother had just crawled into her bed when the Earth started growling at 2 am on Monday, January 22, 1973. A previously unknown fissure in the Earth opened less than a mile from the downtown of Westman Island without any notice. The entire population had to evacuate the island as soon as possible. Luckily, the weather had been so bad the days before, so all the fishing boats were in the harbor. My grandparents, their unborn second son, and my father had to find a way to get off the island and thankfully did so. This evacuation was the first memory of my father, a truly frightening moment. The 5273 islanders had to watch the island burn as they sailed away to the mainland of Iceland. Fear, grief, uncertainty, what now? The volcano erupted for six months, covering much of the island in ash and destroying and damaging about 60% of the houses on the island. Many islanders had to start a new life somewhere else, leaving memories, homes, and possibly a part of their identity under the ashes of the volcano now called Eldfell. This was a total disruption of life for my family and the society of the Westman Islands. An incredible amount of work awaited the people looking to return to the island covered in ashes. After the eruption, the landscape had drastically changed. Again, this story of my roots can be reflected in the reality of the pandemic. The pandemic has been affecting our way of living since early 2020, causing many of us to feel those same feelings of grief, sadness, uncertainty, and a comparison of life now and back then. However, the pandemic as an entity was not a personal tragedy but a sociological shock of change and a total disruption, just like the islanders in 1973 who had lava blocking half of the entrance to the harbor, compromising the primary source of income of the islanders.
In Westman Islands, the chessmen were swept off the board and set up again. Efforts were made to streamline the basic operations of the fishing industry to get people to work. As a result, the industry in Iceland was better adapted for the coming decades than other societies that did not go through the same changes in the industry. The disruption offered an opportunity for change, and the islanders could capitalize on that making the island more prosperous in the years to come than if it wouldn't be adapted. The lava that blocked the harbor protected the harbor for bigger ships to bring in even more fish. Geothermal energy from the volcano provided a unified heating system on the island. The lava sitting on top of the houses was now an unlimited amount of landfill materials they had been in a shortage of before. The disruption of the volcano turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Now we, a global society, have had a massive disruption and thus been given the gift of an opportunity where organizations and communities must be ready to enter the new world. The entities that capitalize on this opportunity will be the most prosperous in the new world. Can Covid cause us to tear off our global band-aid of inefficiency? Things like teleconferencing, jobs without location, and automation may lead to this evolution of change. Let's look at the disruption as a blessing of an opportunity like the people of Westman Islands. We will come out stronger on the other side. This disruption of life builds a foundation and motivation for changes.
