Defining Moments of 2020 1: Encouragement is free!

One of the moments that defined 2020 for me is actually a series of moments. It was part of my remote working experience on Lesbos, Greece. During that stay I worked remote for my employer in The Netherlands, but shared an office with one of the coordinators for Boat Refugee Foundation. She just started with that job, and I saw her pick up the job with an incredible energy. She definitely outperformed expectations, but at the same time she was trying to find her place.

My role was simple:

• encourage
• check in
• praise
• drink coffee
• laugh
• and so on

It was not a hard job, it was not an exhausting job. It didn’t cost me anything besides enjoying someone blossom and grow into her role. She did perfect. She was the star, but I could (maybe) add a bit of joy for herself by encouraging, by simply being there and laugh with her about the silly things of life. And fix Wi-Fi and printers on the side.

That was and is one of my most defining things of 2020: you can simply give love and laughter and at the same time contribute to the success of others by being there and being yourself.

Office LisRis is still strong within me and will be an incredible memory for the years to come.