Page 7 - September 2017 Voices
P. 7
Eclipse: Another Word
for Burnout
by Beth Genly, ACB, ALB
Is burnout like a solar eclipse? Last month, everything around you is darker and colder.
I had the pleasure of watching the solar eclipse 4. When you’re completely burned out, even
(well, 99% of it, anyway – the sky never went the birds stop singing.
entirely dark for us) with husband Chris, 5. Your community can often see it coming
daughter Kim, and and our dog, Venice. It was on, though initially they may not recognize
a long, slow event: one hour for the moon’s what the symptoms portend.
disk to slide over the sun; about two minutes 6. When a community does recognize the
of chilly peak eclipse time, and another hour eclipse (or burnout) is happening, they may
as the moon receded. deeply misinterpret both its meaning and
what to do about it. Another way of saying
this—they interpret the phenomenon and
prescribe remedies based on their previous
understandings and beliefs.
7. The return of light and warmth will also be
slow and steady, not instantaneous.
8. Eclipses darken the landscape at different
times and places, often occurring many
years apart. Burnout, too, can repeat in
cycles.
9. Burnout, like an eclipse, is sometimes
only partial. Your brilliance may dim, the
winds of distress may blow, but your sky
L to R: Kim, Chris, and Venice does not go completely dark. It feels far
less dramatic. Nevertheless, a large part of
I was thinking about burnout while we
watched (I think about burnout a lot!), and it your energy is unavailable to the world,
struck me—another word for burnout could for a time.
be “eclipse.” I thought of fifteen ways that 10. Sometimes you notice a “diamond ring”
“eclipse” fits my experience and understanding effect: a last flash of brilliance, or supreme
of burnout. effort, just before your energy and
An Eclipse of Your Energy and Productivity
1. Everything seems normal until you’re well
into it. The sun appears to be shining as
much as it always does.
2. More and more over time, your burnout
hides your brilliance from the world. It’s a
deceptively slow process. From moment
to moment, it can seem as if it’s hardly
happening at all.
3. If you’re not paying attention, it can sneak
up on you, and so it may seem sudden that Burnout, like an eclipse, is sometimes only partial.
Beth Genly,
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 3 SEPTEMBER, 2017 7
