At the beginning of this year, I knew something was off.
I felt blocked. Mentally, emotionally, creatively. I tried to downplay it, telling myself I was just shaking off the holiday haze. December had bled into January. Family visits stretched out time. A lingering sickness made the month feel endless.
Then, suddenly, it was February. Valentine’s displays were everywhere, and it felt like we’d just taken down the Christmas tree.
Time felt distorted. Heavy. Unsettling.
And I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
The Creative Burnout of a World That Never Switches Off
My motivation had evaporated. My inspiration felt like a dry well. I even stopped wanting to check the news.
As an empath, I absorb what’s happening around me, and right now, the world feels saturated with violence, injustice, and suffering. It’s no longer informative, just profoundly heavy.
War persists. Gaza, Sudan, Congo. Longstanding, painful conflicts. Coups. Suffering has become a kind of background noise. Trying to live a “normal” life while holding this awareness creates a deep, disorienting dissonance.
If your mind is an overwhelmed, noisy room, I found quiet in “Don’t Believe Everything You Think” by Joseph Nguyen. It’s a crucial reminder that our thoughts are not facts, especially when we’re carrying the weight of the world.
A Growing Numbness and the Erosion of Ubuntu
What troubles me most isn’t just the conflict itself, but the desensitization that follows.
We live in an age where suffering is often recorded instead of alleviated. Where an elderly person can stand on a bus while a younger one scrolls. Where basic compassion can feel optional.
Ubuntu - the philosophy that “I am because we are”, feels like it’s fading. Perhaps numbness is a coping mechanism. Caring hurts. Feeling deeply is exhausting. So we detach.
But that detachment comes at a cost to our collective soul.
To understand this collective shift, “The Elephant in the Brain” by Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson is a revealing mirror. It explores the hidden motives behind our social behaviors, explaining why we often act in ways that contradict our stated values.
The Long Shadow of Survival Mode (Since 2020, Really)
If I’m honest, this heaviness didn’t start in January.
It began in 2020.
Since then, the world has felt relentlessly unpredictable. Lockdowns, fear, cancelled plans, broken systems. Slowly, I stopped planning. I stopped dreaming big. I stopped setting goals.
Why build for a tomorrow that feels like it could collapse?
So, I adapted. I survived. Day by day. And while there’s grace in that, there’s a point where living quietly turns into merely enduring.
For the quiet burnout and emotional overload so many of us now carry, “Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?” by Dr. Julie Smith is a lifeline. It’s full of practical, accessible tools for managing anxiety, low mood, and the mental fatigue that has become our norm.
Adulting, Disillusionment, and Armouring Up
We’re taught to look forward to adulthood, to freedom, independence, and control.
But the reality often brings disillusionment.
Workplaces can reveal ego, corruption, and power games. Speaking up can isolate you. Maintaining integrity sometimes carries a high cost. So, survival becomes the priority. People soften less and armour up more.
When your own patterns become the obstacle, “The Mountain Is You” by Brianna Wiest is essential reading. It helps you understand how inner resistance and unhealed wounds can become the very barriers to the growth and peace we seek.
An Unavoidable Truth: Suffering and the Anchor of Faith
One verse recently reframed everything for me:
Galatians 5:22-23:* "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
“Forbearance” (also translated to long-suffering) stood out. Why would suffering be linked to a virtue?
But when I looked at the lives of Jesus, Job, Paul, and Moses, I saw a pattern. Suffering has always been part of the human story. The difference isn’t in avoiding it, but in how we carry it.
Love itself carries the risk of pain. Life does, too. Avoiding suffering doesn’t protect us; understanding its place in our growth does.
A Vital Reminder: You Are Not the Problem
This is the part I need you to hear clearly:
The problem is not you.
The problem is the world right now.
And yet, we cannot allow the world’s heaviness to reshape us into something colder, harder, or more disconnected.
Romans 12:2* urges us: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
This feels painfully relevant. The world is chaotic, harsh, and loud, but we are not meant to absorb it or mirror it. Our renewal is an internal, intentional process.
Where to Anchor When Everything Feels Unstable
When the world feels overwhelming, simplify your focus. Centre on what you can truly influence:
· Your faith
· Your family
· Your trusted community
Everything else, for now, is noise.
Proverbs 3:5-6* guides us: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
Sometimes, clarity doesn’t come from finding all the answers. It comes from the surrender of trying to carry it all alone.
A Final Word
You are not imagining this.
You are not weak.
You are not alone.
Something has shifted.
And feeling it deeply doesn’t mean you’re failing - it means you’re paying attention. It means your heart is still soft.
So, don’t go numb.
Don’t lose your kindness.
Don’t let the world harden you.
The light this world needs so desperately?
It’s still you!
Love,
B🫶🏾
