Indian-American author Padma Lakshmi is also a television host and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.
She said the pandemic has taught her to stop confusing “being busy with being productive.”
“What I learned is that a lot of the stuff that we do is actually not that necessary and we shouldn’t confuse being busy with being productive.”
She said we need to remember that, as Covid-19 restrictions ease and people go back to “normal” life, we don’t need necessarily need to do all the things we were doing before.
Christina Hernandez works as one of the Mars Perseverance’s payload systems engineers.
She told CNN how important it is to allow yourself to take a step back.
“In the last year, when faced in tough environments with uncertainty, doubt, anxiety or even fear, I realized how important it was to embrace in radical self love, vulnerability and patience. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and play your favorite song and just rock out!”
Actress Jill Marie Jones said she always knew she was strong but the pandemic taught her just how resilient she is.
Fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff said one lesson she learned during the pandemic is “you can never discount the hard won lessons as an entrepreneur, of failure.”
“I wrote my first book during this pandemic with these lessons in mind,” Minkoff continued. “It was a way of recognizing that as an entrepreneur we need to fail, we need to continue to innovate and we need to continue to be fearless in our approach to life.”
Monica Simpson, Executive Director of “SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective,” said the pandemic has shown her that reproductive justice work “is now even more urgent.”
She said, “no one deserves to live in a country where they fear being violated by any other individual or the state.”
Barbara Winston, president of the UN Women for Peace Association, said that the pandemic has taught her “we are all interconnected – in our failings and in our success.”
“Women and girls must realize the extent to which our protection and empowerment is key to overall human progress – we must all fiercely stand up for one another. Men and women alike, must take all opportunities to place women’s success and gender equality into all conversations and agendas,” she continued.
“Let us work to uplift each other and let us all ensure we insert the movement towards gender equality and freedom from violence against women into all programs and projects. Let us move into this year ahead with deep breaths, clarity of mind, and absolute certainty of our value and worth,” Winston added.
Dr. Ravina Kullar, infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist, told CNN we should be “striving to do better” but not allow it to “dominate our lives.”
“Show yourself fierce self-compassion,” she said.
“2020 was a very trying year and 2021 will be as well. I have learned to not be so hard on myself and to ask for help when I needed it. I encourage other women to do the same – we are powerful individuals, but we have to water ourselves by being kind to ourselves.”
Author Terry McMillan said that the pandemic has taught women that “we have all had to learn how to make the most out of the time we do have.”
She said during the pandemic she has forced herself to get outside and walk. “I have read books I’ve been meaning to read. And I have watched stupid things on TV to make me laugh.”
Actress and entrepreneur Olivia Culpo said this year she learned how important it is as a woman “to advocate for your health, do your own research and get the help you need.”
Actress Tamera Mowry-Housley said the pandemic has reminded her “that our words have power.”
She continued: “When you feel seen, and when you feel heard, you feel valued. Words can lead to action.”
Andrea James, founder and executive director of the National Council for Incarcerated Women and Girls, said “the lesson I’ve learned is that no one is coming to save us.”
Emergency room physician Dr. Leana Wen said that “we need to give each other a lot of grace” during the next period of the pandemic.
Judith Le Blanc, citizen of the Caddo Nation and director of the Native Organizers Alliance, said the pandemic “is the biggest interruption we have experienced in our lifetime.”
“It has interrupted our lives, our life ways and our communities,” she told CNN.
She said that since ‘the beginning of time” these interruptions have always happened.
Journalist April Ryan said the pandemic taught her that “it’s OK to be vulnerable.”
“I have an 18-year-old who’s at home on her way to college, it’s our bonding time, and I have a 13 year old who needs us now more than ever before, and the examples that I give, teach them how to be the women of today and tomorrow,” Ryan added.
Cynthia Germanotta, mother of Lady Gaga and co-founder of the “Born This Way Foundation,” said one lesson she’s learned this year is that “there’s immense power in being kind to others and to ourselves.”
Kenyan comedian Elsa Majimbo has been keeping audiences entertained online throughout the pandemic.
To mark International Women’s Day, she told CNN:
Katie Horwitch, founder of “Women Against Negative Talk,” said the biggest lesson she’s learned from the pandemic is about having the power to face your fears.
“True fearlessness is when the fear you have of a situation is less than the faith you have in yourself.”
“Lowering your fear is super hard. And to be honest, I’d never advise anyone to write over their fear (and definitely wouldn’t ever order them to just “think positive” and ignore the rest.) Fear is there for a reason. It’s a human emotion and serves an important purpose,” she explained.
Brandi Rhodes, professional wrestler and the chief brand officer for All Elite Wrestling, said the pandemic taught her that you “always have to be able to adjust and adapt on the spot.”
Actress Lily Rabe told CNN the pandemic showed her “an uphill day doesn’t necessarily mean a bad tomorrow.”
Moogega Cooper is the lead planetary protection engineer for Mars 2020 and is involved with the InSight Mission, preventing NASA satellites and probes from contaminating other planets.
“Living through the pandemic has taught me many things but one of the lessons learned is the importance of constantly sharpening ones communications skills,” she told CNN.
“Living through the pandemic has also shown me that humans are capable of remarkable things and of PERSEVERING through very difficult times. So let’s keep surprising ourselves and doing fantastic things in this world,” she added.
