Julian Summerhayes

“My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something creative to do with my life. Music and life are all about style.” – Miles Davis

It's 5.15 am.

I've been awake since 4.36 am but, thankfully, I managed to sleep through the night, which was unexpected.

I checked the news on my phone and it's been reported that Devon now has the highest number of Coronavirus cases outside London. Am I worried? A little, but mostly for those people in the high-risk groups. Where I work still hasn't decided to allow people to work from home. Personally, I think it's only a matter of time.

My wife and I have decided, given that she works at the local hospital and two of our children attend the local College and University, to stay away from her 84-year-old father who is in poor health. He understands better than most the risk and whilst it's not perfect, I'm looking forward to calling him daily to make sure he's OK and to ensure he and his wife have everything they need. 

Of course, the panic buying has set in. You can understand why people might feel a tad nervous, but toilet rolls — of all things! Rice, pasta and UHT milk I might understand but, really, is that the biggest priority right now? Apparently so!

What of today's few words on the above rubric?

What companies need to be doing.

A timely reminder from my lawyer buddy, Rick Georges.

And here's a quote from Walter Isaacson on Steve Jobs that I remember reading:

“In ancient Rome, when a victorious general paraded through the streets, legend has it that he was sometimes trailed by a servant whose job it was to repeat to him, " Memento Mori": Remember you will die. A reminder of mortality would help the hero keep things in perspective, instill some humility. Job's memento mori had been delivered by his doctors, but it did not instill humility. Instead he roared back after his recovery with even more passion. The illness reminded him that he had nothing to lose, so he should forge ahead full speed. " He came back on a mission," said Cook. " Even though he was now running a large company, he kept making bold moves that I don't think anybody else would have done.”

Onwards, forever onwards.

Photo by Hamish Weir on Unsplash