Between headlines and home: Why it’s OK to pause

Eid Mubarak. I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well in these unprecedented times.

This is definitely a holiday with a difference. No-one in the UAE has asked for or wants this uncertainty, but perhaps it reinforces what is so special at this time of year: Being with loved ones, enjoying the sharing of food and gifts and living in harmony with our neighbours.

Those things have felt under threat in recent days. The core principles of our peaceful lives have been rocked, but they have never cracked. Personally, these times have made me hug my children a bit tighter, made me make that phone call that I would usually put off, and to generally appreciate the small but important things that make every day unique and special.

Embracing the moment is one of the reasons my family headed to Ras Al Khaimah's Marjan Island for a few days to unwind after a very busy few weeks. I joined them at the weekend and tried to make every moment count, to the point where I felt like I needed another break once we got home. It's often hard to be fully present when you work in journalism, especially during a crisis.

You're never really ‘off’ in this job as the phone still pings every few minutes with messages, the emails keep dropping and the odd phone call still comes in. This is in no way a complaint, I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s a privilege. We're all addicted to the news as well, finding it hard to look away for 10 minutes in case something changes. However, it was good to have a bit of mental separation from what we're all going through, albeit briefly.

News fatigue is a real thing. Even as editor-in-chief of this great news brand, I hope you all get a break from very busy news feeds, social media chaos and 24-hour news TV coverage for a while this weekend. Take some time out - Gulf News will get you caught back up in no time. I also urge you to download our free app (no catches) which means you don’t have to bounce around websites and you can escape the doommongers and fake news.

Getting some headspace also made me think deeper about what is really going on, especially when my sons ask me such frank questions such as 'why is Iran attacking us when we didn't do anything wrong?'. I started to confidently answer and then stuttered before coming to a complete stop. Such a simple question, such a complex answer.

It’s not just my sons who quiz me. Everyone I speak to asks what will happen next. I’m sure you are all constantly wondering as well. There is so much information out there - a lot of it rubbish, particularly across social media - about different scenarios that will play out over the coming days, weeks and months. When asked, my honest answer is that I don’t really know and I don’t believe anyone really does. We’re delivering the verified facts as we get them to you as fast as we can and the team is focused on explaining why certain things are happening, with insight into probable outcomes - but not guesses. We wish we could give definitive answers all the time but in this situation it is important to be honest and not speculate. 

One thing we can promise is that we will give support to people, businesses and organisations across the UAE at this time. You will have seen our ‘United in Strength’ content across our platforms, highlighting the resilience, perseverance and community spirit that has got the UAE through crises before, always coming back stronger. Please let us know if you have a story that we should be telling at this time. We are also saying thanks to the leadership and men and women who are protecting us day and night. We’ve seen several companies asking us for impactful adverts to convey the same message and we’ve been proud to help. Please get in touch if you want to send similar messages.

Finally, I’d like to wish all my fellow parents good luck with the days ahead as homeschooling comes back for many of us on Monday. It’s not ideal but it’s safe. I’ll mainly be away from the kitchen/classroom and in the newsroom, where it may well be calmer! Let’s all hope it isn’t needed for long.