So I started thinking about it more, and I came to the conclusion that being "burnt out" is a pretty dark thing to be. I thought about candles and the way they look without any flame. I thought about forest fires and the animals and people that try to escape them. I thought about wires short circuiting and the charred remains of a campfire and matches and cigarettes and burn wounds. There's a lot implied with the words "burnt out." It's like saying your an extinguished flame. Like you're a set of remains rather than something living. Like you're not useful. And I'm not sure if that's such a healthy mentality to have. Even if it's just an undertone. I feel like we have enough words to say that we're not happy, not enthusiastic, tired of school, bored at work, bored with a person, difficult to be around, just don't care right now without implying anything about our own worth. Because the feeling of being "burnt out" is a very human thing. So, maybe that's what we should say: "Today I'm feeling... excessively human."
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Excessively Human
I was sitting in Russian today and my conversation partner turned to me and told me that she was feeling "burnt out." Not in Russian though; it's only a 101 class and I'm pretty sure "burnt out" is an idiom specific to the English language. I could be wrong. I'm wrong about a lot of things. Anyway, I don't know what it was about the way she said it: the used up look in her eyes or the grating tone of her voice, but the words "burnt out" sounded a lot... darker than they usually do.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have never thought of the term "burnt out" that way. I've heard it many times and never thought much of it - usually I take it to mean that they are tired. But you are right, it does give a somewhat disturbing mental image. It is amazing how just two words can be so powerful, with such a deeper and darker context.
ReplyDeleteI like your deeper exploration into this. I think a lot of our cultural metaphor with the "burnt out" and the association of people as flames comes a lot with what you said of people being not useful. I agree that it's unhealthy; we tend to see each other and ourselves as tools that are only valuable insofar as we can produce and "fill our daily quota." And when we can't--when we're feeling "burnt out"--is when we view ourselves and others as worthless.
ReplyDelete