copyright: TETE (Tomasz Tomaszewski)
copyright: TETE (Tomasz Tomaszewski)
In these strange times we all stay at home with our families, and taking out the rubbish is a big deal as this is a chance to go outside.
For me, the Plan A was to co-organize the Polish Championships in Kettlebell Lifting scheduled for 21 March, and to take part in the European Championships, in Gaillard, France. The event in France has not been cancelled yet, but I am sure it will be in the upcoming days. So, I needed a Plan B. Now, when I stay at home, what strikes me the most is that I don’t have to hurry – and this is strange compared to my “normal” life. First, this is the time to do what I’ve never had time to do before, like working on my research paper. Second, it’s the time for my family: it was a challenge at first, but with each new day spent at home you adapt and learn to enjoy it. Third, I had two boxes of books, recent industry publications I’ve been buying over the years; finally I have time to dust them off and have a read. Fourth, it’s the time to catch up with my exercise, to refine my hand stand techniques and my evolutions, and to practice my “animal movements” as much as I can do that in a home setting. Plus the stretching part, always slightly forsaken. Fifth, it’s the time for me to finish all the audiobooks I’ve put aside. Sixth, I can now check the offer of postgraduate studies. I’m doing this for a simple reason: if I don’t learn new things I feel like I’d get stuck. I still believe that if you engage with people who are more experienced and have been in the business for years you have the chance to ask questions and capitalize on their experience. That’s the best way to grow. I need to do something. I am not someone who’d stay put or watch TV. I’d feel like I was wasting my time. I believe that I need to squeeze it as much as possible, even if there is plenty of free time right now.
The key thing for me is not to get panicky and manage the time reasonably to avoid any wastes. Sport-wise, I have the pleasure to be the part of an international organization; this is a special time for all of us, and we have no control over the situation. All over the world competitions are now being cancelled. Locally, here in Poland, we are trying to compete online just to recognize and appreciate the time spend by players on preparations, and the same option has been considered internationally. Two months ago no one expected that this could have happened.
For the time being, I am not relocating my activities online, but I have it in the back of my mind. Moments like this give you an opportunity to take a break and reflect. Over recent years, the pace has been really hectic, I’d do my training and work non-stop, with a short slot for the family during the day. Now, we are living the moment when the clock is ticking at a slower rate. For a week I’ve been at home with my family, we have a lot to catch up with. This is a perfect time to enjoy being together.
When you grow mentally, you also grow physically. Having a mental training is the order of the day. When I train my mind, my body grows as well, and this is just as important as lifting weights or any specific type of physical exercise.
I think that everything I’ve written down here adds up to the individual wisdom regarding recent developments. It is wise and sensible to use this time for yourself, your growth, your family and your future.
copyright: TETE (Tomasz Tomaszewski)
WO: Kajto, what was your plan for 2020?
KK: Working hard to win the World Championships.
WO : And today, with everything that is going on right now, what is your Plan B, or maybe even Plan C?
KK: You’ll smile but the plan is still the same… winning the World Championship. As long as you keep fighting, you are a winner. I’ve been preparing all the time.
WO: What do you mean? I’d expect that under normal circumstances you would meet with your team, the mechanics, coaches and so on…?
KK: (laughter) We’ve talked about this a lot, even in the context we had a few weeks ago. Anyone who is ambitious has always struggled with time management. They would simply be short of time. I always thought that time was what I missed most. Now I’ve changed proportions and opportunities are unique. Today I spend time on analyzing the footage and reports, or doing invaluable reviews of onboards.
WO: What do you mean by “onboards”?
KK: Onboards are pieces of footage from the competitors’ cars. I’d also like to see the places I’ve never been to, get to know the routes from a year or two years ago, look at the turns, stones on the road, roadside ditches, just to see what this year’s route might be like. I’ve been taking notes and doing things that I would have done less/differently before… This is a key element in my preparations.
WO: OK, so this is what Kajto has been doing. And your team?
KK: We are supportive of each other, all the time. Over the years we’ve had the chance to get to know each other and find a fit. My team has a lot of drive and ambition. We know how to support one another in tough moments, and we have open communication. I think this time it will be a lot of hard work together and another, quite unusual test for us. We already have some ideas about how to get through these moments, still discussing, implementing and improving. We keep trying to figure out how to live in today’s situation when there is so much need to reflect on how we operate together, in our team, and in the reality around.
WO: Let’s take a slightly different perspective now. What does Kajto consider as “a word of wisdom in hard times”?
KK: In my opinion being wise today means being particularly tolerant. Maybe this is why we have stopped. Now, you get so much tough news and information reaching you, and this is why we should come together and act as one. I hope that with time we will be able to draw some important lessons from this experience, for ourselves and for the world we live in.
WO: We can all see that the world has changed and many “new” aspects will stay with us for good. One of them is the digitalization in many areas of life. How does this affect you? You’ve mentioned footage, analyses, reports… Is there anything else?
KK: I’ve just come back from Mexico, and emotions are still fresh and intense. I am still analyzing the rally, which means I have not fully grasped everything yet. But yes, we live in a digital world and I am doing my preparations at home. For example, I will finally have the time to practice in an amazing professional rally simulator which I have for over a year but have not had to chance to test…
WO: Thank you for this conversation. To end, I’d like to ask what will be your wish to others and to yourself?
KK: I think mainly patience and the faith that the sun will come out in the end. In the short term, the ability to set your priorities and to strike the right balance in every situation, especially in such a fast-moving world.
copyright: TETE (Tomasz Tomaszewski)
Ola Bednarek is an ordinary athlete with a bit unusual passion. She swims in Open Waters in summer and in winter (in temperatures below 5 degrees). She is a student of Biomedical Engineering at the Łódź University of Technology.
What does an athlete do in such an unusual moment?
I think, most of all, she doesn’t lose motivation to train, set new goals for the future, and create new projects. For me, this is the time to gather my thoughts. Now that I spend most of my time at home, I can read, for example about the English Channel I want to swim across (to see how to prepare physically, and to check formal requirements). I’ve been also working on my university projects; we develop them via on-line apps with other students.
How do you train now? Do you train at all?
Unfortunately, it’s hard to replace swimming with on-land exercise but given the circumstances you need to adapt. Every day I have a different set of exercises on land, and also do ideomotoric training, often used in sports psychology. Of course this will not replace swimming in 100%, but with such forms of exercise and training it will be easier to “feel” water again, when I’m back in the swimming pool. I do hope that it will become warmer outside soon and I will be able to swim longer in open waters.
How do you experience such a sudden change?
Well, I won’t hide that what I’d need now to feel happy is the swimming pool. I remember the last day I went there to pick my equipment, and I felt sad when leaving as I didn’t know when I would be back. This change has its pros and cons. I definitely feel more rested. My parents say jokingly that I am sleeping off the last 12 years as now it’s for me to decide when to do land exercises, so I don’t have to get up at 5:00 a.m.
What counts most, considering the habits of someone as active as you?
Right now, it is really important to manage my diet in a sound way, as the exercise I’m doing cannot replace what I did in water. You need to be careful and avoid weight gain as it could make it more difficult for you to get back into shape. Motivations is also key; to keep upbeat and stay away from negative thoughts. I have to stay as focused on sports and effort as before, because this isn’t holiday time yet.
In 2020, what was Plan A? Plan B? And maybe C?
My Plan A was to take part in the Otyliada swim, but it was cancelled only a few days earlier, the Grand Prix of Poland of course, and the Main Polish Swimming Championships in a long course pool, but also in many open water competitions, such as the Polish Championship, which may also be called off. I also wanted to try to do the minimum required in the European Open Water Swimming Championships.
Of course I have a Plan B: when this is all over I would like to swim across the Gulf of Gdańsk. Later on, there may be other competitions, and in September I definitely plan to participate in the 17 km swim in Austria.
My Plan C is that if all the competitions are cancelled, I’ll have time for my internships. I have to complete them before my university graduation.
How do you stay fit and stick to things that are the most important in your discipline?
I’ve talked about how I stay fit in point 2. As far as motivation goes, I have not stopped writing my training journal where I jot down my motivational thoughts. Instead of water practice, I simply record my land exercise sessions. I read books and watch films, this helps me find the peace of mind.
How would you define the wisdom regarding the world and current developments?
To be honest, we shouldn’t downplay the risk but without getting paranoid; after all when the lockdown is over, the risk of infection will always be there. The virus will not disappear just like that. I believe that if we are meant to die of the virus, we will die anyway. I think that measures in place had a frightening effect, which helped manage the society and make people comply with rules. If I were to sum it up, I could quote one of my favorite sayings: “Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence”.
To what extent have you relocated and can you actually relocate to the digital world?
I use the Internet much more than I’d usually do. This is because I study at the Łódź University of Technology and our work involves a lot of research, writing papers, and preparing projects. I communicate much more often with my friends online, by e-mail or via apps which support remote coworking. To what extent can I relocate to the digital world? Well, there are certain limitations. As for conference calls, here where I live the quality of Internet connection is so poor that this is an issue. I prefer e-mails and university group chats instead.
copyright: TETE (Tomasz Tomaszewski)
Amarok (https://www.amarok.pl) is a band founded in 1999 in Poland. Amarok’s repertoire is the author’s instrumental and vocal-instrumental music. It is a mix of such genres as progressive, ambient, trip-hop and world music. Amarok cooperates with significant artists of the prog genre such as ex. Colin Bass (Camel), Mariusz Duda (Riverside, Lunatic Soul).
At the moment, we are waiting to see what will happen next. The situation is very dynamic and we have no long-term plan at this stage.
We can still continue working on the input to our album. Creating music is what counts most for us, and we can keep doing this because it is relatively not impacted by the developments in the outside world.
We’ve started to communicate more on social media. We are also considering hosting an online concert, since there are no other options at the moment.
We could start planning concerts for the autumn, as many of them have been rescheduled from March, April and May.
The wisdom of the day would mean the ability to be mindful, to watch and to refuse to take on board missions which are impossible under the circumstances.
It seems that the great majority of things people are doing right now is about moving on-line and we will do our best to develop this as well. The key is to act as far as possible, maybe slower, in genuinely new circumstances, but still keep going. The upcoming days will probably give us some more answers.
copyright: TETE (Tomasz Tomaszewski)
Marek Biliński – is one of the best known Polish composers, a pioneer of electronic music in Poland, an instrumentalist using the most modern, as well as classical keyboard instruments. (www.bilinski.pl)
WO: Marek, what does a musician do in such an unusual time like this? How do you prepare (and do you prepare at all), both now and for “the time when it’s over”? How do you experience this sudden change? What counts most, especially for someone as active as you?
MB: I’ve always worked from home, so little has changed here. As to the restrictions on the freedom of movement, I don’t really experience any of them because I live in the countryside, outside Warsaw, among 100-year-old oak trees. All I have to do is to go out on my terrace and I can feel like I am in a park. I have a space to walk my dog.
You simply need to understand the situation the world is living right now and face everything what happens with humility. The mankind has no other option. Myself, I’m catching up on my work and doing my everyday business staff.
For now, the Internet has been working, and the GPS has been working, so I can stay operational…
WO: Do you have any plans? Something going on in your mind?
As far as my plans go, let me remind you that I wrote my album ”Ogród króla świtu” [Garden of the King of the Dawn] during the Martial Law in Poland, in the 1980s. Once I’ve managed to dig my way out from the greyness of everyday life, now pushing me down more and more, maybe I’ll write or record something that I’ve been thinking about all the time, night and day, nonstop…
Against all the odds, I try to keep going, and catch up on my work. In short, I’m still working according to my Plan A for this year, with some slight lapses. The Plan B is already there, just in case. The Plan C does not exist because no one can predict how the current situation, and the restriction in place, will evolve.
WO: How does today’s situation impact the market as a whole?
MB: Artists are greatly impacted, technically and organizationally. The essence of our day-to-day work, our close contacts with fans, is not possible now, and fans are actually the ones who keep the artist alive. We try to stay in touch and do strong messaging via social media – now more than ever – but this lack of personal contact is really painful for many lovers of our work.
To give you an example: we’ve recently released a rerun of our old album. As it was the case with previous releases, we had planned meetings and events with fans in Warsaw and Cracow. They all had to be cancelled for obvious reasons. And concerts, too: we had four events scheduled from now till June, and this will not happen. Of course, this drains our budgets as well.
copyright: TETE (Tomasz Tomaszewski)
Check some reflections from the Directors of Marcin Gortat schools( https://en.szkolagortata.pl ) These schools are places that value sports and education – both teachers and students feel these two activities are equally important. Other key values are passion and encouraging growth.
How do people of education, those who are passionate about sports and driven by the belief in continuous development and team work respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there anything that they do differently than they used to? Will any of their new habits stay for longer? What have they learned? What conclusions do they draw from this unexpected lesson of life? What’s their wish for themselves and for others in these moments, so unusual for everyone?
Michał Feter – Principal of the Gortat School in Łódź
The epidemic has offered us all a time of respite and the opportunity to slow down. All at once I found time to catch up on my readings, but most of all to clean my working files and to have some more intimate thoughts and reflections. I do hope that some of these new habits, as the ability to find some time slot only for myself, will stay when we’re back to normal.
Faced with today’s situation we’ve understood that it would be deceptive to think that our times are free from any civilizational concerns, like war or famine. At any moment order and peace may be crashed with no control over new developments ahead. I think that this has been a lesson of humility; the pandemic has showed how small and helpless we are when faced with unexpected disasters.
I’d wish wholeheartedly, for myself and for others, that such pandemics will never happen again. This lesson helps us understand that nothing is given once for all and that it does not always make sense to make long-term plans. We should learn from this.
Adam Lachowicz – Head of Administration at the Gortat School in Cracow
New restrictions and guidelines have not caused any major changes in my life. There are not so many things that I’d do differently. Frequent handwashing has always been very important to me, so COVID-19 made me only more aware of the issue. The anti-smog face mask… Well, I bought one three years ago, and now it’s back in my good graces and got the second life.
Throughout the pandemic it was business as usual; I’ve only cancelled my extracurricular activities. There is less traffic on the roads so commuting is less time consuming. Because all sports facilities are closed, I have more free time during the week, which I mostly spend reading
During the pandemic, much more concerns are being voiced about the exploitation of our planet, including the greenhouse effect, droughts or raging wildfires. I have become more aware and have changed some of my habits. Right now my water consumption is more reasonable and I do sort my waste more carefully. I know, this is not a great feat but it’s definitely more than I used to do for the environment, and it’s a small victory for me. I am sure that these habits will stay with me when the COVID-19 pandemic is over
I think that today’s situation has put us all to a major test, in many ways and at different levels of life. It has tested our humanity, empathy, our approach to the instructions of our decision-makers and the ability to comply with and respect new regulations, not necessarily of convenience. This is also a major test for families and our close relations, whether we are apart or stay together 24h a day. It’s a true check of our friendships and relationships. We are discovering how we value and respect the work of others. I mean mainly healthcare professionals, bus drivers, couriers or shop assistants. Suddenly we’ve realized that people who do poorly paid jobs are so much needed and cannot be replaced. We’ve understood that life without open groceries, pharmacies or fuel stations is simply unimaginable. So, this is mainly the test for our common sense.
My wish to other people and to myself would be that we stay healthy, keep calm and, as I’ve just said, reasonable, for our planet and most importantly for ourselves. I’d wish that we all are more literate in using various media, able to cross-check the news we get and, as a result, draw our independent conclusions.
Ania Dyszy – Head of Education at the Gortat School in Cracow
What has changed in my way of doing things because of the pandemic? Well, apparently my life is now marked by “compulsive behaviors”. When I get to work, or when I’m back home, I disinfect my wallet, keys and eyeglasses. I think these habits will stay with me for long. As for the positive changes, I’ve learned to appreciate small things, to enjoy them. I’ve definitely slowed down in my private life. I’ve learned to enjoy the time spent alone, I’ve started to read more, especially about new trends. To sum up, I exercise a lot and spend time thinking. Honestly, I do hope that these changes will be for good.
The pandemic has tested my self-reliance and taught me to see my priorities as they are. It has challenged many of my behaviors and beliefs. I’ve learned two important things: a new way of looking at the world and people around me, and how to cut down on my shopping. Being perfectly honest, this was my weak point, and now this urge to overspend has been stopped. What prevailed was my ambition to care more for the planet. This is my self-defined goal to avoid buying unnecessary stuff as long as possible. I wonder how long my resolve will last (laughter).
My wish to everyone, including myself, would be to enjoy our everyday life and nurture in us what puts a smile on other people’s faces. It’s also good to think on how to reevaluate our lives and build a new order of priorities. Let us grow with calm, wisdom, kindness and empathy.
