Julia: January 2011 Archives

Know anyone who's been going through burnout? Yes, I know you do: Me.

After spending 2 years preparing for the launch of Choosing Easy World, working long hours every day (this coming off the months of actually writing the book) without even taking weekends or holidays off, I was beyond exhausted. I was fried. Even before my book made its debut, I felt like I was drowning and incapable of doing all I thought needed to be done.  

True confession: The truly exhausting part is that I was trying to do this all in Difficult World--trying not to disappoint my publisher, trying to do it "right." I just couldn't seem to relax and do it the Easy World way. If you learn nothing else from this, please pay attention to this: You will always burn out when you're operating contrary to your deepest knowing.

Having the book make less of a splash out of the gate than I had intended and dreamed it would, I felt like a failure, even though the feedback I was getting from readers was that it was a huge success as a transformational tool. I had wanted an instant New York Times Best Seller, damn it! Anything "less" felt like a flop.

I lost interest in promoting it, or anything else--I simply felt no inspiration or energy to do anything beyond the basics. Of course, I had also been getting our house ready to be rented out and our household ready to move across country and making the actual move. That surely added to my exhaustion--no great mystery. But it was scary to feel as I did: that I really didn't have anything to offer the world and I might as well just give it up. Empty. Numb. Done. Who needs an Easy World messenger who isn't in Easy World?

Fortunately, I fell down and broke my hip.

I was forced to rest--really deeply rest--and get in healing mode. During this period, I was approached by Hay House to help promote Dr. Joan Borysenko's newest book, Fried. I must tell you--I have been turning down joint ventures for months because I just didn't feel it or have the energy. But something told me to pay attention to this one. As I always do these days, I asked for an advance copy to read before committing. When it came, I was gobsmacked! It was about exactly what I'd been experiencing and was replete with descriptions of the stages of burnout as well as strategies for pulling out of it.

It explained that my situation was of one of the several classic scenarios leading to burnout: Pouring your heart and soul into something and having it not turn out as you'd hoped. (Just having that sense of loss acknowledged seemed to help me hugely.) In fact, Joan, herself, has experienced this very syndrome more than once. She is so authentic and self-revelatory in this book--very inspiring to read of her own humanness! She wrote Fried as she was experiencing burnout and it was her running conversation about it with her Facebook friends that helped her not only find her passion again but that inspired the book and provided case studies and other info. Love that.

These days, my passion is stirring once again and I'm having increasing moments of clarity, inspiration and energy to share spiritual "downloads." I can even imagine writing another book one of these days! I know most of that came from resting and accepting, but Fried really did catalyze an acceleration of my healing. Don't you just love when Spirit presents you with exactly what you need, when you need it? Maybe, like it was for me, Fried will be that for you. Or for someone you care about. Fried's big day is this Tuesday, Jan. 11. I hope you'll check it out! http://promos.hayhouse.com/fried/

While you're at Amazon buying Joan's book, you might as well get a copy of Choosing Easy World so you can get free shipping!

Real, unqualified happiness

True friendship with yourself

Harmonious relationships with all in your world

Peace in your body and mind

Delight in waking to a new day

Magic, both "ordinary" and extraordinary

Childlike fun

Ease in all things

The knowing that Love is who you are