Posts

Showing posts with the label burnout

Still Here, Still Healing: A Dispatch from the Pause

Image
There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from doing the hard things with no backup plan. From carrying everything on your own back while trying to build something that might carry you instead. And if you’ve been following along, you probably noticed—I haven’t blogged since July 3rd. Not because I didn’t care. Not because I ran out of things to say. But because it’s been one hell of a few weeks . It all came to a head when the pain finally demanded center stage— unignorable, consuming, constant . I had to dial everything back, even the things that mattered, just to stay afloat. And at the same time, I had to face the brutal truth: I still have to keep going , pain or not. Do you know how hard that is for someone already fighting depression and anxiety on a daily basis? It’s like trying to climb out of a pit with sandbags tied to your arms—only now the pit is also on fire. And then the roof started leaking . Literally. The final offense in a long, moldy, crum...

Transmission from the Glitchstream – File 004: Burnout Doesn’t Look Like Fire—It Looks Like Fog

 People talk about burnout like it’s dramatic. A crash. A collapse. A bonfire of ambition. But that’s not what mine looked like. I didn’t collapse in flames. I just… drifted into the mist and stopped waving. There was no explosion. No big moment. Just a slow-motion fading. I kept telling myself I’d get back to things “soon.” That I was “just tired.” That it was “a weird week.” Then a month. Then a year. Then several. The fog set in quietly and never really left. And when I tried to fight it—force myself back into structure, deadlines, or passion projects—it just wrapped tighter around my ribs and whispered, "You’re still not ready." This is the part of burnout no one warns you about: The  afterburn . The numbness. The ache that doesn’t scream—it sighs. The ghosting of your own goals. And if you’re neurodivergent like me, it’s compounded by shame. You blame yourself for not bouncing back fast enough. You wonder why your spark feels so far away. You keep refreshing your brain l...

Transmission from the Glitchstream – File 003: What If I’m Not Lazy; Just Traumatized and Tired?

 For most of my life, I’ve carried a quiet, corrosive shame around one persistent fear: That I’m lazy. Not just forgetful. Not just inconsistent. But  fundamentally defective  in some moral way—because I didn’t seem to have whatever mysterious quality other people had that let them wake up, power through a to-do list, and function like real adults. You know the type. They make bullet journals. They fold their laundry. They  file their taxes on time  without having a minor existential breakdown first. Meanwhile, I’m over here debating if brushing my teeth and making coffee are  both  going to happen today or if that’s just a little too ambitious. I used to internalize all of that. Until I realized something earth-shattering: I’m not lazy. I’m traumatized and tired. What I’ve been calling “procrastination” is often executive dysfunction. What I’ve labeled “laziness” is actually burnout with a backstory. What looks like avoidance is often a nervous system...