Well, it is vacation time! It seems like I have been taking a September vacation for the last three years since 2019 and there are pros and cons that come with it. I have to labour through summer when everyone is away and provide cover but I get to take a break from busy September.
This break seem to come at a timely point before I return to the new reality of going back to the office. The past 1.5 years of working from home has been truly a dream come true. There are so many benefits associated with working from home, and I cannot fantom why some companies refuse to provide a hybrid environment to allow working from home. There are times when I felt so stressed out while working that I simply pull out my guitar and started to strum and sing to help myself to destress. This would have been totally impossible if working from the office.
From this C. mess, I also got lots of insights. The world is so divided. You have the pro-lockdown people, you have the free-spirited people (anti-lockdown protesters), then you have the anti-vaxers and you also have the "do whatever you want, I simply cannot be bothered" people. I once heard this saying, "When you are a in position of power, do not just listen to the person who is shouting right in front of you, but that also try to listen to the silent ones". How true is that? Those that openly protest against lockdowns and vaccines do not represent the majority who might want to have some restrictions in place and willing to take a vaccine to move on with life. I would be really curious if the country were to take a poll and find out what % of the population are in for restrictions and what % want to just be free? There is no right or wrong, just a matter of opinion. We have been through this countless times this decade, from Brexit to how T. became POTUS. I remembered we had countless discussions in class back then about Brexit, about T., etc. Sometimes we laughed it off about how ridiculous T.'s campaign was yet he somehow proved the "minority" wrong. There were many silent majority out there who secretly had the similar sentiments like T and voted for him. A ton of Brits never felt they were part of Europe and wanted to break free despite all the talk about free trade brings about more benefits and costs and UK had a larger half of the pie by being in the EU.
The one takeaway from C. for me was that I learnt to live in the moment. I am someone who like to look forward a lot, plan ahead, etc. Nowadays, I cannot live my life by being a step ahead anymore. I know I want to get home in December but I cannot even book my flight ticket right now because I would not know what the world would like four months ahead? Will quarantines still be in place or will I be able to fly freely? Will I still have the option to work from home/Singapore should I choose to return? When I used to be able to travel, I would think about the reality that I have to face when my travels end but these days, I no longer do that. I think about enjoying my holidays and leave the reality to future, for you never know what will happen to you tomorrow?
