Welcome to At The End Of the Day. Iām Hannah Sung and I write this newsletter for a people-first perspective on the news. If youāre a regular reader, pay-what-you-wish via Patreon.
Hello from my desk
Iām in year-end mode, which means that my home office has turned into a āhide the giftsā repository and Iām currently betting with myself (who else?) how long it will take to finish this tin of store-bought cookies.
I originally bought it āas a gift.ā
I am eating the whole thing, slowly, by myself.
As I inhale a steady stream of biscuits covered in chocolate curly-cues, I want to cheer, āYes! This is what it means to be an adult!
Half a second later, āAm I really doing this?ā
I could really use another person to talk to. And maybe a place to be that isnāt my desk. Now that our lives are being shaped by Omicron, thereās a dĆ©jĆ vu vibe in the air.
Ready to holiday with my nearest and dearest
At school drop-off this morning, I said goodbye to my daughter as I usually do (āRun! The door is closing!ā).
I have no idea how we were late again because she jumped out of bed this morning, looking forward to a Pyjama Day class party. (Whereas I would have died if I had to wear my pyjamas to school as a kid, I get that Pyjama Day is the de rigueur way to celebrate now, elementary-school-style).
So there we were, my 7-year-old daughter in her rainbow turd emoji onesie (what a world).
Her entire class had already trooped upstairs and a student was gamely holding open the door for us, watching as I handed off my kidās giant backpack, a bag of candy canes and hand-written cards for her classmates, a wrapped gift for her teacher and her giant, blue stuffie, Alpaca-Poo (Pyjama Day = stuffies welcome).
āGo, catch up!ā I quickly passed all her ridiculous parcels to her and watched her retreat.
I texted my husband. āShe JUST made it in the door, loaded down with a RIDICULOUS number of bags. Will she even make it up the stairs???ā
āShe brings the party,ā he texted back.
Parents have been worried about whether school will continue, whether it will be in-person in January. I donāt have the energy to speculate. Iām just floating in the wave. If youāre exhausted, so am I. And for now, what I want is to close down this computer, and my desk, and get into some more cookies.
You know the drill
Itās time to hunker down again. Iām past the point of being irritated or sad about being on the cusp of yet another pandemic holiday with another wave of Covid. Iām just tired. And to a certain degree, still grateful.
Cut your contacts. Wear a mask and favour well-ventilated places (outdoors ā itās so airy!).
Be up to date with your vaccines (I am going for a hat trick today by getting my booster).
But please, we canāt be human islands. Please donāt forget to make room for other people in some way. Zoom and group chats and going for a walk with a friend are all easy yeses for me. Indoors is more complicated. If youāve scored rapid tests, watch a video on how to use them.
Thereās no one way to be safe, itās a combination of factors and they havenāt changed.
Some days, I prefer to think about all the things I can control and just shrink the world down to those factors.
Eat all the cookies. Wear your rainbow turd onesie. Get your shots and stay safe.
Most of all, take a breather. Thatās what Iāll be doing for the next few weeks.
The work never seems to be done but the day does end and for that, Iām grateful.
Iāll be doing my best to decompress with my little party animals and I hope youāve got your people, too.
Thanks for being a big part of whatās been keeping me afloat in 2021 and 2020. And hereās to all the best for all of us in 2022.
Hannah
āØāØāØ At The End Of the Day is edited by Laura Hensley āØāØāØ
With thanks to Storyworks students at Centennial College: Luna Carrick-Brenner, Hassan Fakih, Oruj Chaudhry
From the vault
Light at the end of the tunnel, March 2021. Iāve been thinking a lot about what medical anthropologist Madeleine Mant said to me earlier this year, on the history of pandemics
3 ways to beat pandemic fatigue, February 2021. Thinking about a cozier, quieter holiday
What my 7-year-old says: Coping skills for all of us, July 2021. Going to do what I love and āecsersisā (read: exercise)
Thank you for reading At The End Of the Day! If you want to hear an ATEOD podcast, pay-what-you-wish via Patreon. Listening will feel like this.
Photo credit: Madison Kaminski, Unsplash
Have enjoy reading your articles. Take care and all the best.
she totally brings the party!