The glimmer of burnout burning away

December 15th, 2023 | 3 Tevet 5784

Happy Friday!!

I hope your festival of lights was filled with meaning, love, joy, laughter, and of course, light. I’ve been contemplating the many messages I could share that connect with the many themes of Hanukkah, and I think I’ve finally landed on one. Only one day too late. Unless you like to celebrate the 9th night of Hanukkah ;) 

When Hanukkah falls every year is always a mystery. Sometimes it comes early, and lands at the end of November, adding an extra glimmer to Thanksgiving, and sometimes it comes late in December, giving time and space to enjoy the holiday season with the rest of the world. This year Hanukkah fell early in December, in the midst of preparing for the end of the year. Not quite late enough to enter into the time where things might seem to slow down, so we are forced to find time for joy and celebration amidst whatever your “normal” looks like for you. 

Regardless of what your “normal” might look like, the world we live in often forces us to fit as many things into a week as possible. This drive to be busy, to be non-stop, to find something to fill time, even when we might not want to. I think the way Hanukkah falls into our calendar each year adds yet another thing to do. However, if we can be present enough to observe and enjoy the holiday with meaning, it can become a recharge.

Yesterday, I attended training for camp professionals with Bamidbar, a Jewish mental health and wellness organization that offers experiential education and clinical services. Our training was specifically focused on burnout and resilience. (If you know me well, you know I was beyond engaged). This training brought up many things for me, and the other participants, but it allowed me the chance to voice something that has been on my mind for a while. This question of, “Is burnout inevitable?” I’ve been thinking about this specifically in a summer camp setting, but I think I can expand that to our everyday lives as well.  

• Is our world set up to prevent burnout from happening?

• As individuals, are we equipped with the tools to not reach the point of burnout?

• Are our workplaces designed for employees to maintain sustainable workloads and a healthy work-life balance? 

I can think of many more lenses of thinking about how the systems that run our world may not be set up for success. I think honestly, these systems are what have been contributing to my own burnout this year. This need to burn the candle at both ends, without even realizing that’s what has been happening. 

This training not only provided me with language and theories to think about the systems that are contributing to burnout in my own life, but it also empowered me to think differently about this question, “Is burnout inevitable?” While burnout may not be inevitable, we can learn and teach strategies to help reduce the burnout that comes up in our own lives and in our organizations. 

This work is hard, but it’s necessary. This visual of burning the candle at both ends, feels awful. That’s why Hanukkah is so lovely. Because we get to enjoy the light of the candles for 8 days. It gets brighter and brighter, acting as a reminder that we as a Jewish people, are resilient. You are resilient. We all can be resilient, as long as we protect our own light.

As we enter into Shabbat, I want you to think about how to continue to keep your flame alive, even as the holiday comes to an end. 

• What fixed practice or ritual would you like to rededicate yourself to, in order to help keep your flame going, as you enter into this Shabbat, this holiday season? 

• How can you acknowledge where burnout may exist in your life, and what strategies can you integrate to reduce this? 

• Who can you lean on to help reignite your flame? And in return, how might that help them do the same? 

As I said at the beginning, I could talk about this topic for days and days. So I leave you with an invitation to continue the conversation. I’m curious what resonates with you, what strategies you might already have to help reduce burnout in your own life, and where this conversation can go. 

With that, it’s almost time for Shabbat. I hope it’s filled with rest, restorative, and the ongoing joy, light, and laughter that Hanukkah brings year after year, even when it’s thrown into our calendar whenever the moon wants. 

Ethically,

Emily