Musings #2: The Year of Burnout

It is November 2016, there is a lull in the air, the morning is icy and grey and wet. The world feels blank, as if unsure if it should keep spinning. Humans used to live here. Now all that remains are shells.

This is how I felt when I woke up that morning, news of the US election hanging in the air. Indeed, it feels like this year has been all about news. News. I haven’t created new art in over a week. They always say that pain enables some of the greatest works of art, poetry etc. But they rarely tell you that it can also inhibit it. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is let yourself heal from physical and mental fatigue. Sometimes, give yourself time.

I think we can all agree that it has been a pretty rough year. But let’s remember too that good things have happened, and will happen, there just happens to be shadows in the light. Don’t let the weight in your chest make you forget that. Yes, America now has a misogynist bigot as President, but isn’t it comforting that so many Americans are speaking out against his message?

Personally, this year has been about constant shifts, changes and some of the most trying challenges I’ve known, but I thank God at the end of it all. We always emerge out of the depths, still conquering life, still moving. Isn’t that incredible? This year shook me awake to the utter phenomenon that is the human reality; the fragility of life, the world through a child’s eyes, the patience of a friendly stranger in a queue on Monday morning, the familiar warmth of the face of a friend, the smile of a grieving broken-hearted woman every time she sees her small child though she is in agony. We are made to overcome this, and so we will – let’s just make it easier for each other, shall we?

Until next time, world.

Z