You can't care about everything all at once all the time.
Or "compassion fatigue will eat you alive if you don't check out from time to time"
Hello.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there is a LOT wrong with our world right now.
Active genocide in Gaza.
Haiti is on the brink of civil war.
Climate change isn’t going anywhere.
Trans children are in danger simply for existing.
In the US, the chances of children who attend school being shot while at school are not 0. Far from it, unfortunately.
Those are just a few examples, but I’m sure you can list a few that I didn’t without having to think about it too long.
With all of the everything, it’s so very easy to tell yourself that every moment must be spent in acute empathy for those who suffer, that because those who are at the heart of a crisis don’t get a break that you shouldn’t either.
I get that, because I used to be the same way.
A decade ago, my eldest babe was 3 months old, I was (unknowingly) in the throes of postpartum anxiety; and the world was on fire then too. I spent many nights awake, watching my precious baby sleep, and shaking with fear because how was I supposed to fix the world in a few short years so that it would be a safe place for my child to occupy?
One night the Hippie found me in a particularly brutal doom spiral. He was in a good mood, and invited me to join him in said good mood in the way only he can. I kept resisting, and finally snapped and said something along the lines of “but people are dying”.
Pillar of patience that he is, my husband took a breath, and gently reminded me that I am doing nothing to help those in crisis by burning myself out to the point of not being able to function, and that with our lives being what they are, the best way to make a difference in this broken world is to raise a compassionate child who knows they’re fiercely loved.
“And in order to do that,” he said, “you need to step away from the fires, and remember your joy.”
He was right.
Dear reader, I am not telling you to turn a blind eye to the suffering of this world. I’m not. Please don’t. See what is happening and feel the injustice however you need to.
But.
If you don’t give yourself permission to step away and remember who you are when not burning inside at the awfulness of it all?
You’re going to fade away, and stop being able to contribute towards making the world a better place for the next generation.
Adjust your own oxygen mask.
Breathe.
Rest.
And then jump back in. The work will still be here, promise.
Until next time, dear readers.
-XOXO,
Jess
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