Overcoming Burnout

Please note that Taylor, referenced in this episode, died in 2022. Learn more about him here: https://bristolabc.org/riptaylor/ Links and resources from this episode Overcoming Burnout Ebook Solidarity Apothecary Newsletter   Frontline Herbalism Podcast Herbalism, PTSD and Traumatic Stress Course Music from Sole & DJ Pain – Battle of Humans | Plant illustrations by Amani | In solidarity,...

Journal Questions What support do you have in your networks that you could potentially lean into more?  What structural barriers to support do you face?  How have you minimised these as some kind of personal failing instead?  How can you support others?  What limits do you need to accept?  Is there a terrain of struggle that you can focus on to help prevent burnout? How is...

Journal Questions How often do you feel dissociated or separate from your body?  What practices help you feel more connected to your body?  Can you practice any of these with others?  What are the political dimensions of your movement practice(s)?  How do you take your body for granted? Links and resources from this episode Overcoming Burnout Ebook Solidarity Apothecary Newslet...

Journal Questions How do you relate emotionality with weakness?  Has it felt safe to express your feelings in organising spaces or collectives?  How have you minimised yourself in collectives and put others needs above your own?  If this is a consistent pattern for you, what may be some of the drivers?  What amazing femmes do you have in your life?  What does femmeness mea...

Journal Questions How are some areas of your life thriving and others ‘bleak’?  What is your balance of organising vs intimate relationships?  How has trauma affected how you negotiate relationships?  Do you resonate with workaholism?  How have you used organising to distract from your feelings? Links and resources from this episode Overcoming Burnout Ebook Solidarity Apothecar...

Journal Questions Are there any vitamin or mineral deficiencies you are concerned you may be experiencing after listening to the episode?  Do you have any vulnerabilities in your digestive system right now?  How does chronic inflammation show up in your body?  How else does your ecology affect you? Links and resources from this episode Overcoming Burnout Ebook Solidarity Apothecary...

Journal Questions What signs of vicarious trauma have you noticed in yourself?  How has your worldview or beliefs changed over time through organising?  How has your identity changed over time?  How has organising affected your relationships?  What risk factors do you carry for vicarious trauma?  What could your collectives do differently to prevent or reduce vicarious tra...

Journal Questions What fears have you observed in yourself?  What choices are you making out of fear?  What are your feelings telling you?  What may need immediate and close attention?  How can you talk about your fears in your collectives? Links and resources from this episode Overcoming Burnout Ebook Solidarity Apothecary Newsletter   Frontline Herbalism Podcast Herbalis...

Journal Questions How do you judge others' capacity rather than accepting their self-determination?  How have you felt left behind by groups? How have people been left behind in the groups you've organised in?  What are your own needs in terms of health and accessibility?  Have you ever talked about these needs explicitly with people you organise with? Or listened to other people's?...

Journal Questions How does internalised ableism show up for you in your life?  How have you received societal messages that illness equals weakness?  What attitudes have you seen from comrades towards people with chronic illness?  How have you felt perceived if you haven't attended or participated in something due to illness? How have you perceived others?  How has chronic illn...

Journal Questions What have your experiences of chronic illness been in your life?  If you haven't experienced chronic illness, how aware are you of the experiences of your loved ones or comrades struggling with chronic illness?  What has been your experience interacting with health professionals of different kinds?  What support would you value right now but money has been a barrie...

Journal Questions Do you have any patterns of hyperactivity, workaholism or over responsibility for others in your life?  What ways have you experienced powerlessness and how do they still affect you?  Were you brought up believing you had power? (For example to impact society) Or that you were powerless?  How has organising given you a sense of power?  What experiences as an o...

Journal Questions How much does your self esteem or self worth draw on how effective you are as an organiser?  What kind of “work ethic” was revered in your childhood? What levels of activity did you see in people around you?  What is your relationship to time in general?  What is your relationship to productivity?  How does your burnout journey relate to productivity and the a...

Journal Questions If you've been engaged in prisoner support, how has it felt?  If you haven't, how have other caring responsibilities felt for you? How has it felt to support someone in dangerous situations?  Who do you know that is supporting other folks? E.g. How can you show love and care to the supporters?  How do you cope with feelings of powerlessness? Links and resources fro...

Journal Questions When has organising felt extractive or exploitative to you?  When has organising felt draining? What dynamics are at play when it does?  What particular dynamics drain you the most?  When has organising felt most nourishing and regenerative to you?  What have been some of your favourite memories as an organiser?  When have you felt a sense of trust, belon...

Journal Questions What role has class played in your life? (Not just past tense)  How have childhood experiences of class shaped you?  In what ways have you seen poverty fetishised in movement spaces?  How have you seen people with class privilege dominate movement spaces?  How can you leverage your privilege to support others? Links and resources from this episode Overcoming B...

Journal Questions What do you wish you had done differently in recent years? What would you have liked to have done differently in terms of taking care of yourself?  What would you have liked to have done differently in terms of organising?  How prioritised or de-prioritised are relationships in your life? Links and resources from this episode Overcoming Burnout Ebook Solidarity Apotheca...

Journal Questions What losses have you experienced as an organiser? How do you feel about them?  Which of your losses are the most painful or incomplete?  How do you talk about or work with grief in your collectives?  If you've experienced repression, how has it/does it feel? How do you honour fallen comrades? Links and resources from this episode Overcoming Burnout Ebook Solidarity...

Journal Questions How does patriarchy make you tired? How do these dynamics show up in your life?  Do you ever feel taken for granted by comrades?  How is the division of labour in your groups?  If you are a cis man, how do you relate to the women and femmes in your collectives?  How much emotional labour are you doing in your collectives?  What drains you or makes you tir...

Journal Questions How do you underplay stress in your life?  What macho responses have you heard in movement spaces in response to potentially traumatic events or experiences?  How do you minimise what you've been through?  Do you compare yourself to others who are suffering or experiencing oppression in different ways?  Where does stress show up in your body? What are it's sig...

Journal Questions In what ways do you perform self care for the gaze of others or the pressures of society?  What nourishes you?  What does “self care” mean to you?  What paradigm do your self care practices fall under? For example, are they orientated towards productivity or compliance/passivity in capitalism?  What role can your care practices play in movements for liberation...

Journal Questions How much do you assign your burnout to an individual failing?  Do you hate yourself for not being able to “cope”? Yet have compassion for others harmed by capitalism?  What systemic and structural pressures have contributed to your burnout?  What caring or other responsibilities do you have at the moment? How are they impacting you?  What makes you feel like s...

Journal Questions What beliefs do you have about struggle/resistance/organising?  What negative or critical thoughts come up when you're around other people doing “less” than you? Or doing things differently?  What things do you say to yourself? How much pressure do you place on your self?  Are these beliefs serving you or movements for liberation?  Are they ableist? What oppre...

Journal Questions What associations do you have with the word “burnout”?  What frightens you about it?  Where are you in denial about your own burnout?  What would have to change in your life if you admitted you were burning out?  What are your personal signs you are burning out?  What grief or feelings are you avoiding feeling? Who can you disclose to how you're feeling r...

Links and resources from this episode Overcoming Burnout Ebook Solidarity Apothecary Newsletter   Frontline Herbalism Podcast Herbalism, PTSD and Traumatic Stress Course Music from Sole & DJ Pain – Battle of Humans | Plant illustrations by Amani | In solidarity, please subscribe, rate & review this podcast wherever you listen.