Life Bookshelf
Manila — In a recent online writing workshop , I struggled to clue in myself as I wasn ’ t in a good place . I told my colleagues about my condition as we mentored young writers . After the activity , I didn ’ t know if I made sense , but I was thankful that I pulled through .
Most of us may have had this experience of being present but are actually zoning out , or , in this era of Zoom-hosted work events , all we want to do is zoom out . There are many situations where we find ourselves in this predicament , but for varied reasons , we show up and stick it out .
I remember one day at the height of the lockdown , I already had three Zoom events before high noon so I stormed out of my place and walked outside , only to find myself in the cold embrace of the empty , spooky streets . There was nowhere else to go . For other people , it can be worse , even for just one event .
Almost everyone today is back to work , physically . While some employers adopted the hybrid setup of on-site and telework schedules for their workers , many offices and companies want to bring back the status quo – everyone back at their desks and nooks .
This means attending meetings inside the conference room , lunching out , having their mid-morning or afternoon coffee , gladly seeing the coworkers they are fond of and furious at having to encounter those they don ’ t particularly care for , or bracing up for the day ’ s insults and insensitive comments .
After struggling to work while restrained with the uncertainty and fear of the pandemic-triggered crisis , the
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Zooming out
back-to-work requirement can be a heavy transition emotionally and mentally to a workforce whose life has changed .
For those of us who are not in required on-site work , such as construction and health care , and now answer our emails from our kitchens while preparing breakfast , we tend to wonder how to go back to the old status quo . We are not okay , but we must be back at work anyway .
In this remote-work era where our personal and professional lives collide , perhaps the best tack is to just be kind because we don ’ t know whether the person on the other screen is processing a heartbreak while presenting a report ; or the other one with the sky-blue beach digital background is actually torn and threadbare while discussing a point .
While I can think of the go-to ap- proach to kindness as a way to soothe our flailing mental health as we continue struggling with work routines and re-openings , it helps if we also try to appreciate the fun stuff we have in our technology-aided Zoom interactions .
I just left my TV producer-head writer job after nearly five years ; half of it spent doing tapings in-studio and the last two years working online to prepare for the nightly live broadcast , including attending the story conference – activities I just zoomed out of but fondly remember . There was that colleague ’ s dog barking in the background and someone ’ s baby cooing while we discussed the day ’ s news and anticipated what was coming next .
Our humanity struggled with our journalistic duties aggravated by the enormity of what was happening in our country and the world . But then , this is why we zoom out once in a while .
Diana Mendoza is a longtime journalist based in Manila . Send feedback to dgmendoza @ yahoo . com .
Bringing CHamoru literature to world ’ s classrooms
The Na ’ huyong CHamoru anthology project , in collaboration with University of Guam Press , is seeking creative writing by CHamoru authors from Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands and across the diaspora to be included in this first anthology of its kind .
Project Director Evelyn Flores and the project ’ s editorial board chose the CHamoru word na ’ huyong , meaning “ let it out ,” because of its imperative voice and its sense of urgency .
The editorial board includes leading names in CHamoru literary production living in Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands and the CHamoru diaspora : Anne Perez Hattori , Craig Santos Perez , Michael Lujan Bevacqua , Teresita Perez and Andrew Roberto .
Like the earlier “ Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia ,” co-edited by Flores and published by University of Hawai ‘ i Press in 2019 , Na ’ huyong seeks to carve out literary space for , in this case , CHamoru writers , wherever Pacific Island literature or indigenous literature is being taught .
“ We have i manCHamoru writing ferociously ,” Flores said , “ but we don ’ t have us visibly all together forming a critical mass .”
The project aims to change this through its resulting anthology that will bring to classrooms across the world some of the best in CHamoru writing .
Interested individuals may submit up to three selections from their best work , whether poetry , short stories , one-act plays , essays , or excerpts from novels or memoirs .
( UOG )