The Exhausted Age
An interesting phrase came across my desk recently. The Great Exhaustion. It seems that all over the world a vast number of people are tired. Burnt out. Stressed out. Overwhelmed. It apparently makes them want to lie down and take a nap. Okay, not really. By nap, one is referring to sleep. In this case, it’s more like wanting to shut down, tune out and give the brain a rest. Call it staring into tranquil space, if there is any anywhere. Recovery time. Thinking and feeling nothing.
And what is it that’s so stressful and tiring these days? It seems that making a living is for one thing. Not just living but meeting a standard of living. Being able to afford things you think you should be able to afford. And often can’t. So what do you do? Work harder? Work longer? Find something different to work at? Does anyone enjoy their work anymore? I wonder sometimes. It seems there’s always a constant nut to crack, another level to attain. What happens when you’re working to support a family and you hardly have the time or energy to be with that family? Talk about emotional fatigue.
The world is making people tired. The constant on-line litany of bad news has always been filled with grave tidings, but they used to take a little while to get to you. It had to filter down the pike. Hit the search engine on your phone now and beneath the search bar is a list of current headlines, each one like the title to a horror movie. Websites and social media and text messages spewing commentary and angry warnings on a daily – no, an hourly – basis. How can that not affect you? Danger, Will Robinson! Danger, danger! Meaning quick – run and take a nap! Or better still, turn off your phone and computer and then go lie down. Studies show that too many of us take our little toys to bed with us. Talk about helpless.
Unresolved stress makes one feel out of control, simple as that.
I look at the essays and blurgs in my little, published collection, Crossing the Meadow, and it pleases me that so many are rooted in a sense of humor, making light of semi-serious things that happened to me over the last fifteen years. It pleases me because humor has always been a way to express myself. It also saddens me just a bit because lately it feels as if I’ve lost that sense of humor. Is it because I’m tired? When you’re mentally exhausted, it’s difficult to be light and positive, no matter how hard you try. You sit down to write something amusing and there’s not much to be amused about. No wonder you want to go take a nap.
Let’s see….
Light and positive example 1. I was chatting with a friend on the phone last week – yes, sometimes I call as opposed to text – and I asked a simple question. “So, whatcha been up to?” “Oh, not much. Just Biden time.”
What!? What did he say? Biden time? Or wait – biding time. I guess both mean pretty much the same thing. Biding time means you’re waiting for something and since that heartrending debate we’re all certainly doing that. Sorry to say, whatever that something is or will be, it doesn’t feel as if it’s going to be anything to laugh about.
Oh, but wait – see? I just tried to write something amusing but I didn’t. I’m just feeling tired.
Let’s laugh about the weather. I live in La Jolla, California which has always been pretty close to paradise. Not this year. A rain filled spring gave way to May-grey which gave way to June-gloom which has given way to July-purgatory. Fog in the morning, a bare whisper of sunshine in the afternoon, cool, damp and grey all throughout the day. One shouldn’t complain, of course. The coastal grey is being caused by dangerously high temperatures inland. I heard a visitor from Phoenix (120+*) recently state that he felt like he was in a place where mother nature had finally turned on the air conditioning and —
Wait, stop. Again, I’m trying to amuse myself here but I’m not, I’m complaining. I’m Biden-timing, still waiting for youthful summer to come.
Okay. Want to talk about something really funny? I’ll talk about the despicable knee. Not the traitorous one, the left one, the one that’s been the bane of my tennis existence for the last eight years, no, this is the so-called “good” knee, the right one. According to a doctor friend, I’m now dealing with a “Baker’s cyst” which is a swollen sac behind the kneecap. Who’s doing the baking I have no idea, all I can tell you is that the “good” knee is suddenly so stiff and painful it hurts to walk. I’ve been told to rest and ice it, meaning bide my time and do nothing and wait for the swelling to go away. It doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. The only positive is that the bad knee, the left one, has suddenly stopped hurting, probably out of sympathy.
Left knee – right knee. Democrat – Republican. Biden – Grump. Is there an analogy here? Other than that it hurts to think – I mean, walk – no, not really.
Shoot. I’m still not being amusing, am I. I’m trying, I really am. I’m just too tired. I’ll try again later.
It’s the age I’m at. The Exhausted Age.
*
Stephen Metcalfe’s work can be found at:
