It’s been a little while since I posted a blog.
It’s been hard for me to create space for it. My initial instinct is to apologize, but I think that action implies there is something I should feel guilty about. However, there is no reason to feel guilt.
Life is happening. I work, I have school, I have adult responsibility (very much wishing someone else would do my dishes for me), I am working hard in multiple, weekly therapy sessions to tackle deep seated trauma.
I am drained in the middle of a pandemic, just like all of you. Drained not just from all of the things I am doing to be busy, but all of the time spent isolated. I miss people. I miss the buzz of human beings, of new ideas, of smiles echoing - radiating. I miss missing my home because I've spent a whole day away from it. However, the collective energy has shifted in the last year. Like many of you, I am so tired, so anxious, stretched so thin. Every day feels like a struggle. There is little to no joy in "the little things."
What I’m feeling is Pandemic Fatigue, a new form of burnout. I know I am not alone in feeling this, but I still feel guilty that I feel this way because I know it could be much worse for me.
So, I wanted to take a little time to map out some ways that may help all of us, myself included, as we navigate the fatigue.
Offer yourself grace. You are only human. You can only control so much.
Use mindfulness. Bring yourself back to this moment right now. What can you hear? What can you smell? Name five colors you can see right now. It is so easy to get trapped in hypotheticals, but that pulls you away from your current path. Be here now.
Positive mantras every damn day! Negative self talk, guilt, shame, anxiety all ebb & flow in & out of our life, but they don’t control you. They are the ego struggling against your higher self, so RISE UP. Love yourself loudly, unapologetically. Give yourself words of affirmation & a big hug because you deserve it.
Find new routines & stick to them! As we usher in warmer days, start to include more outdoor activities. Start a garden, & commit to watering it every morning while you drink your coffee. Go for a daily walk. Sit on your porch & meditate. Stay consistent & watch spring unfold into summer, just as we are unfolding after a long hibernation.
Take more naps. Because they feel good & life is exhausting right now.
Burnout is not a new affliction for us in the modern age, but Pandemic Fatigue certainly is. There is light beginning to appear, we can all see it. We are so much closer to the finish line than we are the starting line. As with the shift of seasons, we will be moving into new life post pandemic. We can do this!
I would absolutely LOVE to hear what has helped you. We are a hive mind, a collective. We're all just walking each other home.
Love you, sweet ones!