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“Kairos… is an Ancient Greek word meaning the right, critical, or opportune moment. The ancient Greeks had two words for time: chronos and kairos. The former refers to chronological or sequential time, while the latter signifies a proper or opportune time for action. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative, permanent nature.”

Wikipedia

The current COVID-19 pandemic has subverted the status quo, especially when it comes to our human want, need, desire and capacity to tell stories.

Traditionally we have been told that stories follow Joseph Campbell’s model of The Hero’s Journey, in which the hero (or heroine) meets the mentor, the oracle, the guru, the shaman. The one who helps to provide enlightenment and guidance that helps the Hero continue on their quest. However, our current reality has forced many of us to realise that there is no one wise sage coming to rescue us, to share their knowledge, wisdom and insights that would help us find our way out of this pandemic. Instead, our behaviour in response to the governing mandates has led to the recognition that we all are storytellers and now more than ever the othered voices, knowledge and wisdom should be included in the wider cultural and societal narrative.

This insight has been fast-tracked by the fact that in this pandemic our (privileged) relationship with technology has changed. That various technology can be used as a tool to help us to connect with ourselves, each other and our environment. Now more than ever we are seeking and exploring ways to use the technology to become more empathetic and create new immersive experiences.

Our behaviour is not new.

But, we have been given the opportunity whilst in this gap between the ‘old normal’ and what comes next to make choices about our personal roles and responsibilities within shaping this new future.

In my previous Medium post Escaping Plato’s Cave I introduced the idea of Cyborg Shamanism. A series of interconnected patterns, an idea, an ideology, a movement and a framework for transformation.

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