Burnout meets metaphor
Hey friends-
My people tell me that blogging isn’t dead. I knew writing wasn’t dead but somehow this form was just not really calling to me. I’m back though. I actually have too many ideas for one human brain much of the time so it might give me some relief to share some of them here.
Hi, SEO algorithm - I see you - What’s up?
This morning as I was walking my dog (the Hound-dog Princess named Roux not the Havanese Roxie and Rosie), I was thinking about the podcast I’m going to be a guest on later today and listening to my dear friend Dr. Jo Braid. She was chatting about ARRIVAL FALLACY which is a BIG FAT ILLUSION that we are gong to be happy over there when we achieve/ complete x/y/z vs the MUCH realer truth that we actually have some - no really the only REAL contentment available in the current moment as we are giving sustained effort toward an end we have in mind. The end we have in mind is or at least should be always driven by our math on values… that somehow the end we are seeking fulfills a CORE VALUE. Of course these can be widely variable and I’m going to resist the temptation to digress into a whole core values/ personal mission statement thing here though that IS A FUN ONE and will be the topic of my April talk at University of Chicago as well as being the topic of our 2nd group call in the 12x12 coaching program BUT…
Where was I- oh yes- arrival fallacy and all that. She was talking about arrival fallacy in the context of burnout and especially in the context of healthcare though it’s true for burnout of all types.
And MY BRAIN started. metaphor-ing. Yep I just made metaphor into a verb. Whatevs. The metaphor was this: we are all gas and no brakes in medicine and I would say in MOST high achiever spaces. We honor the doing thing not the resting thing, the speeding not the slowing down. But the truth is slowing down and speeding up are BOTH SKILLFUL in different circumstances. And while they are opposites, they do not always oppose one another.
Case in Point:
You are a driver. Your goal is to arrive safely at a destination. Some drives are short, some are long. Some are urgent. Some are relaxed. In healthcare we have sometimes been under the impression that the long drive we are on is always urgent and should be done at top speed and effort under any and all circumstances. We should drive hard until we are 100% out of gas and we should not stop to maintain the vehicle. Also the road is a mess of pot holes and sink holes. And the inbox is like an indicator light that never goes off.
PS- The vehicle is us- our lives, our loves, our bodies, hearts, and minds. (duh)
Anyhoo.
It’s like this: we are actually driving hairpin turns in the dark while it’s raining quite intensely with small children and woodland creatures all along the roadside as well as some other tricky people driving erratically all around us also with poorly maintained vehicles in unsupportive conditions. We’ve been driving fast for a quite a long time and our nerves are strained.
It might be skillful to take the foot off the accelerator.
Coast for a bit…slow to a stop.
Have a look around. Sight see.
Pull over and rest perhaps?
The alternative is crashing and burning out.
Think of it - continuing at this speed under these conditions is actually reckless and is more likely to foil our efforts to get to our destination that to help us get there faster.
The road is a mess. That’s not exactly in our control. Only our vehicle and passengers our in our control.
Let’s operate them safely.
PS- The roads need fixing. We need HUGE fixes. But in the mean time we need to maintain our vehicles and drive them at a speed that suits our vehicle’s needs not just the unquenchable needs of the healthcare industrial complex.
Thanks for hanging out with me for a bit. I’ll be back soon.
XO,
Chrissie
