This past year has been a challenging year for so many and while I’ll get to that in another post later this week detailing the pain of 2020, I do want to share something that has me counting my blessings — the parts we can be grateful for amid the darkness. While an event from last Christmas left a hole in my heart, it is one that has brought me closer to some of my friends, recognizing who is genuine and who isn’t. I think that’s what age does though, right? You just get it all of a sudden.
But while certain friends and, of course, my family have been salvation during this global pandemic, I am blessed and grateful for work (and my amazing co-workers) being that totem for me too. This year was rough with COVID-19 and just tragic news coverage. Some stories took a toll each day. Sifting through information, first-hand accounts, videos, all of it can break you some days and ground you. With nowhere to go but an arm’s length, it was a lot of reflecting, disconnecting from the noise and dropping everything to spend time with my sister and parents, staying indoors, protecting them, helping them. All of it produced an interesting latent function though, ironically, that allowed me to grow outside myself — and like everything in life, the balance is important. It helps you gain perspective to make better decisions, gain a sense of calm, and see the big picture again.
With a career embedded in just about every aspect of life with no way to turn off, I got to jump outside my comfort zone and head into a realm of broadcast with work, finally getting the chance to apply everything I’ve learned in school to another aspect of reporting. I never imagined it would go that way, but here we are at the end of 2020 and I’ve filmed 18 (one embargoed for January) episodes for our ViacomCBS brand PopCulture’s @ Home series.
It all started at the end of June when I got my first interview with Ernie Hudson, which was a dream come true. (Imagine telling 4-year-old Tania about that!) I can’t even remember how I did it, but I can tell you, I was nervous AF. I had never done anything like it before and then I got another one, and another one, and another one… and I am so grateful. Talking to so many people that I have looked up to for years and admired, is an incredibly humbling experience. Work hard, friends. Like my favorite personality, Conan O’Brien once said, “Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”
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westlifebunny 
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