It’s February again, which means it’s the season for Gallifrey One. When I last blogged about the possibility of going to Gally this year, I don’t think anyone had even heard of the omicron variant yet, but I was still nervous and dubious about the advisability of going to an in-person con by February. I think I was equal parts hoping that things would be vastly better by now and that force majeure would kick in and the con would get canceled again.

But here we are beginning the downward slope of the omicron surge, no force majeure in sight, and just about as much uncertainty about the further spread (and mutation) of COVID as ever. The decision about how to proceed has plagued me for weeks, with some of my best friends deciding definitely to go, and others deciding definitely to stay home. In the end, I’ve decided to go for it.

I think one of the turning points was reading something about how one end of the American political spectrum tends to underestimate the risks involved in the COVID pandemic, and the other tends to overestimate them. As I’m clearly in the latter political camp, that statement made me sit back and think, “Am I being overcautious?”

On the home front, my family has already expanded its risk profile these past several months. My kids have been going to school in person since September. Although my spouse now permanently works from home, I’ve been going out and doing the grocery shopping (and similar errands) myself instead of having everything delivered like we did for the first stretch of the pandemic, but we’ve all been vaccinated and boosted.

For the con’s part, they are taking all the precautions they reasonably can, too. All attendees (and staff and guests) are required to show proof of vaccination to get their badges. There will even be color-coded lanyards so people will know at a glance whether or not someone wants others to remain socially distanced from them. There are policies in place for masking practices, too.

And then there’s the part where I haven’t really done anything for myself in the past two years. In fact, the last thing I really did was attend the last Gally in February 2020, right before things really hit the proverbial fan here in the US. Maybe—just maybe—it’s okay for me to take a calculated risk and do something that will bring me joy.

So that’s where I’m at. Unless I somehow suddenly test positive on a home test the morning of my outbound flight (:knock wood:), I will be attending Gallifrey One again this year, and you can expect the usual spate of blog posts. I’m going pretty low-key this year, though; I have no plans for cosplay, for example. Hopefully being in that atmosphere with people I love (and rarely actually see) will help rekindle the spark of joy that has dimmed over the past two years.

I think the rewards are worth the risk.