Member-only story
About Me and What I Write
Updated bio
The decision to join Medium as a writer in April 2020 turned out to be life-saving to my creative and mental health. This, during a time of unexpected but inevitable transition.
The pandemic hastened the inevitable for me. The pandemic, in crumbling down pseudo-defenses and excuses, in bringing front and center the essentials and naked truths, drastically reoriented economies and cultures as well as the intimate parts of our lives.
Many of us are no longer the same persons we used to be before the pandemic.
I’m a literary and cultural studies academic by training. Up to the pandemic (and I’ll later explain why only up to this point), I taught at a private university, wrote textbooks and papers, helped out in the research in my field — living the overworked life of a teacher, dreaming of working less and redirecting more of my energies to family and personal growth outside academe. While I slaved away on weekdays, my spouse stayed home to care for our two small children. On weekends, I “rested” by taking over the household affairs while he, a freelance chef, “rested” from housework by preparing lavish banquets for weddings and other big events.
With the virus yet to break out of Wuhan, my husband and I sat by a river wall and talked about switching places. This was in January…
