Some weeks, it feels like the days have slipped past in a blur. Other weeks, it feels like I’m back in middle school, watching the second clock spin until it’s time to go home.

Either way, one thing that helps my brain reorient itself is to take a few minutes to itemize what I’ve accomplished. Usually, I realize that it’s a lot more than io give myself credit for and that estimating time is a difficult task.

This exercise also reminds me that there are natural ebbs and flows to work, but both are productive. Sure, it may look like I’m staring at a blank Word document for minutes on end, but really, I’m spinning my wheels trying to organize my thoughts so that tumble out of me all at once.

Nature has so many visible signs of growth, progress and change, such as budding flowers, falling leaves and molting feathers. But there’s also plenty of changes we can’t see or will never see. So, if you’re feeling adrift, you can kindly remind yourself that you might be like the Ship of Theseus, changing so gradually that it can be difficult to detect at times.

Wherever you are and however your days are passing, I hope you can find some time to stop, reflect and appreciate all that has happened lately.

Until next time, stay safe, be well and be kind!

Burnout Causes

Recently, I spoke with Pam Walaski, Linda Tapp and Monique Parker about burnout, so when I saw this article make the rounds online, I knew I had to read more.

Author Sally Clarke believes there are three main contributing factors to burnout: societal culture, organizational culture and internalized culture. Her approach is a helpful lens through which to look at the problem of burnout. It also explains why we talk about it which also talking around it. And, perhaps most critically, why burnout can’t be treated as an individual problem.

Clarke writes:

“If an organization rolls out a wellness program but leaves structural overwork intact, it has done nothing except relocate responsibility to individuals. If we support people in examining their internalized beliefs but never interrogate the societal norms that installed them, we’re asking them to swim upstream indefinitely. And if we reform organizational policy without addressing the broader cultural forces at play, we end up with islands of relative health in an otherwise unchanged sea.”

Clarke offers us a way out of our current mess, but it’s not the easy way or the quick fix. Those are the distractions and bandages to the real problem that we, as a society, need to reevaluate and redesign.

Read more here.

Unearthed History

One unexpected result of climate change: Once sunk ships are no longer underwater.

Up to 200 German battleships from World War II are emerging as the Danube River, Europe’s second longest river, reaches new low levels due to draught.

Nazis once purposely sunk their own ships in the waters between Serbia and Romania to avoid capture by the Russians. Figuring out what to do with the sunken ships has long been a problem—some ships are still laden with weapons—that has allowed some folks to simply ignore. Now it’s an issue that can no longer be ignored, if only because other ships can’t glide over their wreckage.

This situation is rife with symbolism as well as lessons we know but haven’t quite learned. Like how the past rarely stays in the past. Like how we all have a responsibility to one another. Like how tackling problems is only possible through cooperation.

I’ve seen multiple outlets cover this story, but I’m sharing the link from the German state-funded broadcaster Deutsche Welle because it has the most pictures, and who can resist pictures of military ships?

Boring Books

I enjoy book reviews, especially of genres I don’t typically gravitate toward or books I might never crack open. I consider these reviews as a twofer: I’m learning about a book (or books) and insights about life. To my delight, a review from author Joshua David Stein contains both—plus a few chuckles.

Stein highlights two children’s books on boredom. Both stories employ different tactics, but they seem to tickle the imagination and encourage the protagonists to look at their existing boredom with a fresh perspective.

It’s been many years since I was a child, but looking back one thing I love about the genre is the gentle calm and quiet. An entire story about preparing for a tea party, a mischievous puppy or saying goodnight to everything in a house. Utterly delightful.

Children’s books teach words and feelings, not plot devices or literary techniques. Children have their whole lives ahead of them for that.

I’m getting nostalgia for childhood—and boredom—just reading this review. Judging by the comments, I’m not alone. The general consensus seems to be that boredom is a state of mind, not a state of being, and it’s a privilege that a select few (i.e., children and retirees) seem to have.

Read the review and see some charming illustrations here.