I Can Still Do It, I Just Can’t Feel It

Dear Delyara, This is how burnout feels to me lately: I can still do what needs doing. I just can’t feel anything while I’m doing it. The tasks get done. The emails get answered. The shifts get completed. The dishes get washed. The plans get made. But there is no spark left in any of it. No emotional freshness. No sense of engagement. It’s as if I’m moving through my own life in a state of careful depletion, trying not to let anyone notice that I’m running on what should have been temporary reserves. I worry sometimes that people confuse my consistency with wellness. They are not the same thing.