Kick Start That Mule

Dear Readers, job burnout is a bitch. Since my energy level has been sufficiently lower than usual lately, I’ve been hard pressed to carryout even the most basic of tasks. For example, the process of getting ready in the morning.(Although, I never will forgo my daily hygenie routine, cleaniness is important after all.) My creative life has also suffered as the well dries up when the body/mind is treated like a machine.

As a result of compounded stress, I almost threw down my #2 pencil and quit my job today. It was tempting. The stress has been constant lately, and unfortunately, right now I don’t have the inner resources to sustain the chaos that comes with the territory. After so many years of telling myself to “Kick Start that Mule” I’ve finally grown weary. I still, however, have the energy to be a MegaBitch to anyone who even looks at me twice. Yet, I don’t think telling co-workers to “get fucked” is a proper way to deal with stress. Any other suggestions?

In an article, The Four Stages of Burnout, the progressive signs of burnout are laid out. The cynicism, callousness, emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion associated with job burnout all apply here. On another related website, Stress Management Resources, one can take a quiz to see how far along in the burnout process they are. I scored a 58 out 75, which was generous. My sentiments today asking a co-worker for a dull knife to gauge out my eye reveals something different. Evidently, I require a higher stress rating. Maybe I should have my own stress category called, “Your head is going to explode, please remove yourself from the public sphere immediately”,--at least others would be sufficiently warned then.

Ever notice how it’s easy to feel alone even with a crowd of people around? It’s also easy to feel overwhelmed with all the help in the world. And sometimes it’s just easier to hide from it all. And even though, dear readers, I don’t know what it is to live in your shoes and deal with your stress, I sure can sympathize.

Amos Lee- Sympathize

It ain't no jive
I was burning alive
Whenever you walk in the room
It happened so quickly
I was feeling so sickly
Like a lover who lost his muse

The sharks in the tank or
The men in the bank
He wants my money to loan
I can't understand
What the hell is his plan
While he ain't even got a home
Ain't got a home

Girl on a street
With holes in her feet
Looks through the eyes of a cloud
She don't look amazed
She's feeling kind of sad
So I just walk around

I reassess
She's down on her luck
She's reading a book of lies
I don't know when I'll be coming home baby
But I can sympathize
can sympathize

She drops to the floor
Her head's by the door
Her bible is by her side
Heaven is calling
The new world is falling
And she ain't got a single person left
To confide
No one to confide

I sympathize
Can sympathize