Burnout and growth

 

Abstract:

Plants need to do photosynthesis to grow. To do photosynthesis, plants have to take in water, nutrients, and the sun, put these components through a series of chemical reactions, in order to create energy that they can use to grow.

At COP, I feel like I’ve been taking in so much material. It’s been hard to keep track of everything I’ve been experiencing and going on inside of me. I think with some processing and journaling, I may discover some hidden energy and growth that won’t be revealed until after the COP.

Moral of the story, stay tuned even after the COP.

Challenge:

Are you experiencing burnout? Is there anyway you can take a break to let your brain and body process the emotions you are going through?

Full story:

Lowell always seems to say things that I need to hear every morning at morning devotionals. Today, he said some deep advice I really needed to hear.

Don’t forget to eat lunch.

I was chowing down on breakfast, eating salad, because it was the only thing I could eat at the hotel as a person who is gluten free. I thought about how I had stumbled onto the bus last night, sat in the restaurant like a zombie, thinking about my pillow, and dragged myself through the hotel doors following the others in the group at 9pm last night.

Climate burnout is real.

All I’ve heard for the past few days is how we need to do something, we need less talk and more action, we need to conserve forests, we need to create a loss and damage fund, we need to create business incentives for more green innovation. We need to do all these things or else? I’ve seen photos of homes flooded, deserts waving their dust in their deep drought, dead and starved anaimals strewn across the landscape. Or else.

Quite a toxic environment, no?

I will admit I was too tired last night to write a post. And today I didn’t head to the COP grounds until 4pm in the evening. At first, I felt guilty. How could I be letting people down at home?

 But, then I thought of the plants in our world. How in order to create their energy, they must go through the process of photosynthesis. They can’t just directly use the light from the sun to grow. No, they have to capture the energy, do a bunch of chemical reactions, in order to create energy that they can use to grow.

I don’t think my best reflections or best writing are coming out right now. Honestly, I’m throwing my jumbled ideas down onto the keyboard when I come home with 30 minutes before bed. But, I think that’s okay. I need time to process all this sunlight that I’m receiving, let it go through multiple mullings and chemical reactions in my brain, before I can produce a piece that’s really full of energy.

If you’re still reading this jumbled piece, I really appreciate it. Thanks for listening to me. But I’m hoping my best writing is still yet to come.