{A screenshot of two tweets appear onscreen. They read]:

Tweet 1: lizwhatsherface.bsky @RealGayArbys: I'm supposed to just watch as my friends and family go maskless everywhere and get sick forever and I'm not supposed to object.

Tweet 2: lizwhatsherface.bsky @RealGayArbys: I'm supposed to just scroll past the pictures of you and your infant indoors at a restaurant. I'm supposed to accept that this is fine now and not scream at you or anyone else.

[Cutting back to Freya:]

Regarding that last tweet, umm... The past two years of the pandemic - and I say the past two years, even though I know it's been four years. because about two years ago was the mark when, in Australia at least, most people sort of stopped caring about Covid - what those two years have done to me is instil a mental block - a hesitance, a fear even - of expressing concern to people that I care about, about their wellbeing.

Years of having those people say "Why do you care so much about Covid?" Me telling them, telling them about the very serious health consequences of getting Covid, regardless of whether you get Long Covid or not on whatever Covid infection you're on. And to have them go "Oh. That sounds really serious. Fair enough, I understand completely." And then... not wear masks? I'm like, what? How am I supposed to care about you if you basically respond to my concerns with what kind of amounts to patronization? You know?

Like, I don't understand - I don't understand how you can look at someone who is scared for a future where them and everyone they care about becomes chronically ill and say you understand and then... not change your behaviour in any way. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about regarding the long-term consequences of Covid, please do a Google. It's really accessible information.

[On screen text appears, it reads:] there are links to articles of this nature in the link to my website in the description.

But, yeah. I think it is deeply condemning - deeply condemning - of Western society that individualism is so deeply rooted and permeates through our culture that it is not socially acceptable to have conversations with people close to you about concerns you have for their wellbeing, and about keeping each other safe, and about ways in which we can care for each other in what is a really, really challenging time.

Like, we're in a pandemic.

We're IN a pandemic.

And that phrase has lost meaning! And no one talks about it anymore. And I'm sick of being one of those people, I'm sick of being in communities where no one around me is wearing a mask and being silent, despite the fact that - not only do those actions make... It's like I'm being gaslit, right? It makes me feel like I'm overreacting - I'm not. I'm not overreacting. - but it makes me concerned for the people in those communities that I care about and that I love, you know? I fucking love my theatre community, I love my polyamory and kink community, I love the people that I make video games with. I don't want to see you the way I currently am, to be quite honest! 

And the reason I care so much about this is because I think there is hope! Right? Like I wouldn't be fucking masking if I didn't think it would do something. One of the biggest things people say to me, if they actually want to question why I'm masking, is they're like... "Mmm, but you're gonna get it eventually." I'm like yes! Absolutely, right? Like, I got Covid because I have people in my life who I love, who I spend time with without a mask on. I don't eat, sleep, drink, live, have sex in - actually sometimes I do have sex in masks, but whatever -

It's not about not getting Covid ever. For some people, it is. For some people who are chronically ill or immunocompromised, it is about not getting Covid ever. And those people have therefore been excluded from society by the actions of the governments in not stopping the spread of the disease. But also by us, right? By the people in these people's communities who aren't showing up for them and wearing masks and making spaces accessible to them. But that's a separate note. A very important one, but a separate one.

[On screen text appears, it reads:] this is also true of people who have legitimate medical reasons meaning they cannot wear a mask. we have also left those people behind.

What was I saying? Fuck, the brain fog kicked in, haha.

Wearing a mask is not about never getting Covid. You haven't failed at wearing a mask if you get Covid. Wearing a mask is about reducing the number of times you and the people around you get Covid in order to limit the amount of damage it does to you and other people. That’s what it’s about. Because the further we get into the future, the more research and medical science will have evolved on Covid, on Long Covid, on all of the conditions that Covid causes. And so, you know, if you get Long Covid on your first go like I did (wouldn’t recommend!!) then you get Covid now in 2023. Getting Long Covid in 2023 - leagues better than getting it in 2020!

Getting Long Covid in 2023, my expected recovery time is shorter than people who got it in 2020, there is access to strategies and medication and techniques for managing and recovering, there is way more research around, and there is way more knowledge about the - purely from just the perspective of there are so many other people, there is a community of people that have Long Covid and have gone through this, that I can connect to and gain support from. That, you know, means that my mental health is slightly less shitty than it would have been otherwise. Give it another three years, right? Who knows what medical improvements will have happened. But like, almost certainly, getting Long Covid in 2026 will be so much better than getting it in 2023.  

The goal is not to never get Covid. In the society we live in, that is not a feasible possibility, unless you exclude yourself from that society. And I’m not asking you to do that. I’m not doing that myself. The goal is to risk manage. The goal is to lower those numbers, lower those statistics. Lower the chance you have of Covid doing you long term damage. 

Humans have gone through pandemics before, right? We know as time passes, we come up with better ways to manage disease. And that’s fucking awesome, you know? Like that’s very good, this is good news.

We don’t have ways of managing the symptoms of Covid to the point where they are not severely damaging yet. We just don’t. But they’re being developed. The number of research papers that have been done on Covid - so many. It would help if the government stopped defunding Long Covid institutes - fucking hell! - but I still believe, right? And not just believe, I know. Like, this is fact, there is research being done. Things will be getting better.

But because right now we don’t have the resources to stop the consequences of the virus when the virus gets out, we have to use the resources we do have to contain the risks to ourselves and each other. Which is wearing masks. Which is air quality, in whatever way you want to do that. Whether that is being outside, whether that’s having doors or windows open, whether that’s installing air filters in your classrooms, your rehearsal rooms, your community centres, your homes. No one’s stopping you - Hmm, I don’t have one. I should get one! Mmm, fun! Parents, if you’re watching this - next on the agenda!

To cycle back to the start of all this, which was supposed to be just a little rant on an Instagram story, and now I’ve made a big long video - and I feel quite good about it, to be honest, so maybe I’ll post it everywhere. But, yeah. I think we need to have conversations. We need to have conversations with each other about this. We need to talk to the people that we care about, the people in our families, the people in our communities. And talk about keeping each other safe. And I think the people that like me have been masking this whole time, I think those people are scared to start those conversations for fear that they will be ignored. For fear that their care will be seen as irrational.

[On screen text appears, it reads:] i should be using we/us/our language here. this is how i feel. i am scared.

And I think that - and this is just speculation, because I am not one of those people - but I think people that aren’t wearing masks don’t want to start those conversations because you haven’t been wearing masks and maybe there’s some conflict there around wanting to care and wanting to protect people but knowing you haven’t? Or maybe there’s something relating to, you know, just “holy fuck, things are really fucking scary and to acknowledge that is fucking terrifying.” And, god, that’s so real of you.

But I think, in a world where everything feels terrifying and hopeless there is nothing better than doing something. There is nothing better than changing your actions and behaviour based on your information or based on caring for the people around you. Like, if anyone tells you that you’re a hypocrite for not masking and then starting to mask - fuck them. Absolutely fuck them. 

It can be really hard to wear a mask in a room of people who aren’t. And I know this because one of the really lovely things that I’ve been able to experience over the past two years is walking into a room where no one is wearing a mask. I walk in wearing a mask and then other people put their masks on. And then, you know, it might only be one or two people, but I have conversations with people - some of them are really good friends of mine now and that was how we fucking met. And they say “hey, thank you for wearing a mask because I didn’t feel comfortable. I didn’t feel comfortable not wearing a mask for health and safety reasons, but more than that I didn’t feel comfortable wearing a mask because of the social pressure of everyone else not wearing masks.”

And I’m sure there are lots of people like that. And I think, if you are someone that is able to wear a mask in a room of people aren’t, I think you owe it to those people who want to, those people who are fearful for their health, but need to be masking in numbers because of this massive social stigma against it - for no reason, it’s so dumb! Very capitalist, very Western, I’m very mad at it!

[On screen text appears, it reads:] this applies even moreso if you are a leader. actions of teachers/managers/directors/politicians/etc have massive impact on the culture of the spaces they lead

Yeah. The other thing that works really well is masking in groups, you know? Like, again, if we go back, if we have conversations about this with the people that we care about, then we can form little bonds and connections, right? We can be like “oh, hello, friend, we’re going to a thing, should we wear masks? Yes? Oh my god, mask besties!!” Right? Like, it’s good.

You don’t have to wear masks all the time. Because we’re not wearing masks with the goal of never getting Covid ever, we’re just wearing masks with the goal of reducing the likelihood that the bad things happen to us, you can take off your mask for certain things. If everyone wore a mask on public transport, in uni and school classes slash the workplace, and at events, like big events, that would make such a difference. Even if people only did one of those three! Because everyone will be doing it and then you’d have the cycle spread, but alas, ah, collective action, Western society hates it! Capitalism wants it gone!! Which is why you should do it. 

Anyhow, I think, in summary - in a society where our governments have ignored medical advice to abandon us to a pandemic, to force us to work through a health crisis, to remove basically all financial support for people isolating when they have Covid, forcing people to push their bodies beyond the limit and just disable themselves in order to make enough money to live in this fucking crisis that is the world... I think it is a radical, hopeful act to care for each other. I think it is just, like, the act of caring for the people around you by masking… is fucking beautiful.

Because the world is telling us not to care.

Our government is telling us not to care, our employers are telling us not to care (I’m not employed at the moment because, illness, but - ugh). Since when have we - and I say we being, you know, my friends, my family, my communities, my peers - since when have we just done what the government has said when they’re in the fucking wrong? You know? Like, since when have we rolled over and been like “oh, well, you know, it’s really sad about x thing that the government doesn’t care about, but I guess we won’t do anything about it -” No! We post on social media! We go to fucking protests! Like, what?!! - and yet with this thing, we don’t? We say “oh, they’re not - masks aren’t mandatory anymore, we don’t have to isolate, and so we’re just gonna pretend it doesn’t happen.”

That mindset is not mine.

And it’s not - I don’t think it’s yours either.

And so, I ask you to join me in caring. That’s the conclusion, that’s the conclusion - be an anarchist! Wear a mask!

And have conversations with people that you care about in your communities about wearing masks so that people like me - people who are already disabled by the pandemic don’t have to carry it all. Because we shouldn’t have to. We shouldn’t have to, but like is always the case - and I’m even fucking guilty of this, because whilst I did mask before I got Long Covid, I didn’t say anything like this, you know? Here we are. 

Yeah.

Don’t wait until Covid becomes your life or death to talk about this.

Talk about it now.

Yeah.

Much love.

[Video of Freya cuts off and is replaced by on screen text. It appears over several screens. It reads:]

If you’ve made it to the end of this video - you’re fucking awesome. Thank you so much.

I’d love for you to reply or send me a message letting me know you’re here. It’s pretty isolating being sick and social media posting into the void.

I’d also like to give a massive shoutout to Monique, Emily and Seb. Your steadfastness and vocal commitment to care in the face of all this over the past years brings me hope every single day - as do the actions of those of you who are already doing your best to mask and protect those around you. In case no one has said it lately: thank you.

As a final note, I’d like to add that when I talk about masking I am referring to the use of N95/equivalent respirators. Surgical and cloth masks, whilst better than nothing, give nowhere near the same level of protection as respirators do. The likelihood that two people wearing N95s will give each other COVID is essentially zero.

You can buy N95s from most pharmacies, or order them online. It is recommended that you switch to a new mask after 4 hours of wear, but if you are concerned about the financial/environmental cost of this, you can find articles online showing you how to reuse and care for a set of masks to keep them effective for a maximal time period.

Thank you again, friend. If you have questions about masking, other ways of being covid cautious, or ways to approach bringing up this topic in conversation, my dms are open. <3