Burnout, wellness, and self-care in times like these…

Burnout, wellness, and self-care in times like these… 

I’ve been meaning to write this article for at least three months. An article about burnout. Except that I was too burnt out to form the thoughts and put the words on paper. 

Maybe you’ve felt the same. 

Working in the business, Aligned at Work, over the past two pandemic years has been exciting and grueling. If you know me, you know that I waited 22 years to start this business in 2015, and I experience a lot of fun and excitement simply by doing the work I love. 

When the pandemic hit with lockdown in March 2020, the business stopped, for about three months. Then it picked back up and eventually, 2021 was our best business year yet. I love working in a company that is out to change the world, to make it a more loving and compassionate place. And yet, burnout hit hard.

My husband and I got through the pandemic by taking a monthly day trip to cooler parts of Arizona. We would either pack a lunch and head to Tucson, or head to a Wildflower Bread Co in a northern town like Sedona or Flagstaff, order on the app, mask up to go inside and pick up the food, wipe down a table outside, eat, and drive home. It was something, and a change of scenery. 

Finally, in June of 2021 with two vaccinations each, we headed to PA for our oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation. Hubby got sick, tested repeatedly, and had a bad cold as we flew back home. Disaster averted. 

By November 2021, we had three vaccine shots under our belts and prepared to take a river cruise down the Danube River in Europe. This would be our third time in Europe, and this trip had been pushed back multiple times due to the pandemic. I was really, really counting on it to get me away from the business, the internet, social media, and to give me the change of scenery that always reboots my energy. I wanted to feel joyful again. 

Alas, Austria shut down 10 days prior to our trip, and it was once again pushed out, this time to 2023. 

It hit hard. Really, really hard. I could not get a head of steam going no matter what I did, couldn’t sleep myself out of it, couldn’t take time off and get out of it. Remnants are still there. 

I’ve been practicing a lot of self-care, but frankly, there isn’t a lot of joy in life right now. Multiple people that I’ve enjoyed spending time with have left Arizona for other places to live. I feel robbed of the time these past two years when my aging husband and aging me could have been traveling and seeing family on the other coast. The world seems more and more divided, and the US Supreme Court has made a massive debacle out of equal rights for all and looks to become more and more anti-equality in its decisions. We must fight this backslide of human rights.

I’m looking forward to an upcoming vacation at the beach to help me recenter, reconnect to the earth, and rejuvenate. I want to read, sleep, hear the waves again.

I have a friend who recently heard my voice, really heard me, and said, “Ohhhhh, you’re going through a time of transition.” And I believe he’s right. Transition times often feel just like this, like the swirl will never end. And yet, it does. And life moves forward into the next iteration. I’ll take it.

Laurie Battaglia and the team at Aligned at Work ® work with leaders to create workplaces of the future. They bring great leadership together with diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and meet rapidly changing needs to today’s and tomorrow’s workforce. Aligned at Work ® specializes in Diversity/Equity/Inclusion/Belonging Consulting and Training, Aligning Leadership Teams, Strategy Retreats, Aligned Leader™ Training, Executive Coaching, Team Coaching, and Career Coaching.

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