Here's to a year of fun, empathy and healing.
 | By Eleanor Barkhorn Staff Editor, Opinion |
We're starting to envision life after the sickness, isolation and death of the past year. And many of us might be thinking about how our post-pandemic lives might be better than the "normal" we had before — including keeping some of the flexibility of remote work and being more intentional about our social calendars. But what if returning to a better "normal" also included a chance to change our personalities? |
In an Op-Ed this morning, Olga Khazan, a science writer for The Atlantic, explains that though we may think of ourselves as unchangeable, that's far from the truth. Scientists have found that adults can alter the five traits that make up a personality — extroversion, openness to experience, emotional stability, agreeableness and conscientiousness — within just a few months. |
And, as Khazan writes, "What better time for transformation than now, when no one has seen you for a year, and might have forgotten what you were like in the first place?" |
Changing our personalities might also allow us to have some more fun. Khazan profiles a woman who, after losing her 29-year-old husband to cancer, has resolved to try dog-sledding and glassblowing once it's safe to do so. These new activities will require her to become more extroverted and more open to new experiences. |
Personality transformation doesn't just help us grow as individuals, but also as fellow humans: We can emerge from our pandemic bunkers ready to treat one another with more kindness. Khazan points to the trait of agreeableness as one that involves greater empathy and concern for others. |
"Though the pandemic will end, its scars may take a while to heal," she writes. "Treating people with patience and, yes, agreeableness, will help in that healing." |
Here's to a year of fun, empathy and healing. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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