You can tell Virginia Woolf didn’t have kids because if she did, she would have said, “A woman must have money, a room of her own, and five goddamn minutes to herself if she is to write fiction.”
I can so relate. You mentioned eye diseases. I have Sjogren's Disease, an autoimmune disease primarily affecting the eyes and mouth (I write about it on my Substack, so I won't bore you with the details here). I started a small content marketing business once all of my kids (three in under four years, one of the on the spectrum) were tweens. Then, thanks to Sjogren's, my vision went kaplooey. Several years later my vision is just now getting back to being semi-stable, and I can only work a few hours a day before my eyes quit. Somehow, that makes it harder to fit around everybody else's schedules than it was doing it almost full-time. It's hard to make writing a priority when everybody needs something. I've almost quit many times. Then I'll start again until it seems pointless. It's not really burnout, it's accepting that what I love and am good at has to take a backseat because it contributes less to my family than other things I need to be doing.
Oh I just look at it! It's by the author of _Fair Play_ the book about making your heterosexual male partner do his fucking fair share. I haven't read it yet. I'm just being a martyr instead and probably developing an autoimmune disease from keeping all the pain inside of me.
Oh man, I feel you. I realized I was burned out when I kept calling in sick, or wanting to call in sick. I wish I could cry some days. My feelings tend towards anger when I am tired and burned out. Which is dangerous, and super not socially acceptable for women. And much more likely to get you fired. But at least if I can journal or breathe through it or something I don't have Cry-Head for the rest of the day.
Also, I should probably see an orthopedist. My hips hurt almost all the time. Lately I've been telling myself it's my own fault for "eating inflammatory foods." Because everything is our fault, you know.
On the plus side, the really great thing about everything being our fault is that it makes us moms omnipotent. How else could we be so powerful that everything is our fault? Uplifting thought for the morning, yes?
I can so relate. You mentioned eye diseases. I have Sjogren's Disease, an autoimmune disease primarily affecting the eyes and mouth (I write about it on my Substack, so I won't bore you with the details here). I started a small content marketing business once all of my kids (three in under four years, one of the on the spectrum) were tweens. Then, thanks to Sjogren's, my vision went kaplooey. Several years later my vision is just now getting back to being semi-stable, and I can only work a few hours a day before my eyes quit. Somehow, that makes it harder to fit around everybody else's schedules than it was doing it almost full-time. It's hard to make writing a priority when everybody needs something. I've almost quit many times. Then I'll start again until it seems pointless. It's not really burnout, it's accepting that what I love and am good at has to take a backseat because it contributes less to my family than other things I need to be doing.
Hey, I have a weird autoimmune disease, too! Welcome, weird autoimmune disease buddy. On the whole, I wish we had the same size shoes, but oh well.
You need Unicorn Space! https://www.everodsky.com/unicorn-space
Oh I just look at it! It's by the author of _Fair Play_ the book about making your heterosexual male partner do his fucking fair share. I haven't read it yet. I'm just being a martyr instead and probably developing an autoimmune disease from keeping all the pain inside of me.
OMG, I bet that's why I have so many autoimmune diseases! That's it: I'm gonna let it all hang out instead. Get ready, everyone. It's gonna get wild.
Oh man, I feel you. I realized I was burned out when I kept calling in sick, or wanting to call in sick. I wish I could cry some days. My feelings tend towards anger when I am tired and burned out. Which is dangerous, and super not socially acceptable for women. And much more likely to get you fired. But at least if I can journal or breathe through it or something I don't have Cry-Head for the rest of the day.
Also, I should probably see an orthopedist. My hips hurt almost all the time. Lately I've been telling myself it's my own fault for "eating inflammatory foods." Because everything is our fault, you know.
On the plus side, the really great thing about everything being our fault is that it makes us moms omnipotent. How else could we be so powerful that everything is our fault? Uplifting thought for the morning, yes?