“Embers and Envelopes” by Mae, Thursday, May 13, 2021

 

Every band has tackled the Covid-19 pandemic in different ways. Many bands are selling live-stream tickets. Some have decided to give free concerts on social networking. Cleared from the time-consuming task of driving across the country, setting up equipment, and tearing down only to drive to the next city, musicians have been able to produce music in new ways. It doesn't hurt that all of their equipment and professional microphones are in their basements. Last year, Emery produced a show on their Twitch channel, in which they played their songs. They often had guest vocalists from other bands, such as Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, and Dave Elkins of Mae. Emery reimagined some of their songs and the guest vocalist's band's songs too. The collaboration of "Embers and Envelopes" was a beautiful updated take on Mae's first single. 

I KNOW YOU HAVE SACRIFICED TIME, LIFE, LOVE. I've been having a bad few weeks. It seems that no matter what I do, I cannot catch up with the mountain of work piling up on my desk. Plan. Grade. Teach. Get surprised by schedule changes. Plan. Almost grade. Teach. Teach. Plan. Teach. On top of the workload, the principal is complaining about the native teachers' classes because of our use of Google Classroom. Exhausted over the weekend, I try to focus on how to make my teaching career more professional and how I can be a more marketable teacher and eventually work for a more professional school, but I see the good examples with the benchmarks that I'm not reaching. I see the records I never kept of student surveys, amazing student work. Then I think about how hard you work to be a great teacher and how much debt you get into for the credentials. Is it even worth it? On top of that there are problems at home in America. My dad had a health scare, and there's nothing I can do about it in Korea. In the midst of this funk, I've been so cold to teachers in other departments when they ask for favors. 

TO WRITE THIS DOWN AS MEANS TO RECONCILE. "Embers and Envelops" contrasts reconciliation with alienation, writing a letter or burning a bridge. One of the hardest things to learn about working in Korea is not shooting the messenger. You may have an issue with the top, and the top has strategically put set the messenger up to take the fall, but it's important to make it crystal clear that your issue is with the top and not the messenger. But it's hard to do that when you feel deeply depressed. It's hard to do that when you care less and less every day. If and when you pick yourself out of that mess, apologize and explain your situation. Not fully as to give that person ammunition against you later. Apologize for the stray bullets fired. And bring a gift.

Mae:

Dave Elkins ft. Emery

Read “Embers and Envelopes” by Mae on Genius