I’ll be back. In the meantime, please enjoy the out-of-office message that has been permanently on my work email since March 2020.

Stay safe everyone. Be kind to each other, and to yourselves.

In solidarity, E.

End/

Doing this work has been an honor. It has changed my understanding of journalism, of the world, and of my place in both. I’ve tried to live up to the responsibilities of the moment, as a writer & a person. I did my best to help. Now I’m taking some time to help myself. 11/

My dear colleagues Katie Wu, Sarah Zhang, Jacob Stern, Rachel Wei-Gutman, and others will still be doing amazing work. Please support them. And Sarah Laskow has my eternal gratitude for editing my work and holding up my spirits across these long years. 10/

For the next 6 months, I’ll be mostly keeping to myself. A few talks that were booked long ago. No new writing. Logging off Twitter, except to plug other people’s projects. Email is the best way to contact me; my address is easy enough to find. 9/

Mariame Kaba: “Hope is a discipline.”
Paul Farmer: “You fight the long defeat.”
James Stockdale: Combine “the need for absolute, unwavering faith that you can prevail” with “the discipline to begin by confronting the brutal facts.”
These are my touchstones. 8/

I have tried, across 55-ish long features, to help readers make sense of a crisis that usually defied sense; to bear witness to immense suffering; and to expand our moral imagination to show that a better future is still possible. Because, despite everything, it still is. 7/

I’ve been intentional about this last month. The brain fog & ME/CFS pieces have been on my list for a while and I’m happy they’re out.

And I wrote this thread about how I approach these kinds of stories in the hope it’ll inspire others while I’m away. twitter.com/edyong209/stat… 5/

I’m not giving up. But I understand that we’re in this for the long haul, and I refuse to burn out completely so soon. If I've learned anything from the chronic illness communities whom I cover and care about, it’s that pacing matters. 4/

When I’ve interviewed healthcare workers & others about burnout, there are basically 3 roads they take.
1) Double down on duty and mission.
2) Find community.
3) Step away.
I’ve done the first for as long as I can. I’m now doing the third to focus on the second. 3/

I’ve talked openly about the mental health challenges of pandemic reporting—e.g. twitter.com/edyong209/stat… & traumastewardship.com/2022/02/ed-yon… I know stepping away is a huge privilege most people don’t have. Persistence matters, but it has limits, and I’ve long since reached mine. 2/

🧵Some personal news: I’m taking a 6-month sabbatical, starting now. These past 3 years have been the most professionally meaningful of my life, but they’ve also deeply broken me. The pandemic isn’t over, but after a long time spent staring into the sun, I need to blink. 1/

Wait, one more thing: The responses to these pieces have been overwhelming but I try to focus on the work. What people need is clear, compassionate reporting. What they don't need is a self-described ally with a savior mentality; lord knows there are *plenty* of those around.

I don't think any of what's in this thread is hugely profound or complicated. I haven’t been trained in any of it, I still make mistakes, and I’m still learning how to do it. But curiosity, kindness, and empathy are the tentpoles. Everything else unfolds from that. End/

Here are links to other pieces and resources that you may find helpful: 30/

On trauma-informed reporting: niemanreports.org/articles/menta…
dartcenter.org/resources/dart…

On covering long COVID
centerforhealthjournalism.org/resources/less…
drive.google.com/file/d/1_H4Yd-…

At the start of this, I said I hope more of my peers tackle these kinds of stories. They've been more meaningful to me than anything else I've done professionally. I know they’ve had an impact. They’ve helped people. What more can we ask for from our work? 29/