Joining the Local All-Night Gym and Finding a Community of the Wakeful

Dear Delyara, Because of my night-shift schedule, my social life has been completely non-existent for a year, leaving me feeling like an invisible ghost who moves through a city that only exists when I’m asleep. Tonight, at 2:00 AM on my day off, I forced myself to walk down to the new 24-hour gym on the high street. I expected it to be creepy and empty, but when I walked through the doors, I found a clean, brightly lit space full of ordinary people—paramedics on breaks, fellow security officers, shift workers, and insomniacs—all quietly working out in absolute, unjudging solidarity. No one was performing or showing off; we were just a small, late-night tribe of the wakeful, taking care of our bodies while the rest of the world slept. I walked back to my flat feeling like I belonged to a community again.