Burnt Out
Image Courtesy: Repeller
Since the dawn of human existence, we have monotonously strived to create the perfect society. We created rules, hierarchical structures, and parameters around ways of being, codifying our lives in the almost militant pursuit of order. However, more often than not, these structures have worked against us, leaving us consistently building and rebuilding from our past. Throughout it all, a certain ideology has persisted that many deemed the right way to achieve success. In his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, German sociologist Max Weber asserts that an individual is religiously compelled to pursue their secular occupation with as much vigor as possible. Protestants claimed working in this way resulted in God’s favor and grace. This association between self-realization and an overzealous labor mentality formed the backbone of our culture today, which has left many failing to keep up.
As we climb up the corporate ladder, we often don’t even realize the rabbit hole we’ve gone down. You receive your first promotion and feel aligned with society's frame of success; a higher pay, advanced job title, and tighter schedule carve out the path to power. That is, until you realize it’s no longer a 9 to 5, it's more like a 7 to 6. Your lunch time eventually disappears and now you’re microwaving leftovers to eat in front of your computer. Suddenly you forget about that trip you’ve been dying to take and can only focus on checking off the boxes on your to-do list. You go from a casual morning coffee to needing three coffees just to make it through the day. You get home from work and no longer go to the gym, go out, or see friends. You simply go to bed and the cycle repeats in the morning. It doesn’t take long for these days to become repetitive, as you’re continuously reliving the same day in a monotonous cycle. Those feelings of excitement, passion, and motivation start to dwindle, and you begin to think that maybe society's norms are warped—or that maybe you’re just the outlier.
We conform to these standards because it’s deemed the acceptable path, but declining mental health due to excessive hours and exhaustion shouldn’t be neglected. This rat race mentality eventually forces you to hit a wall, leaving you feeling more lost than ever. While there is a large gap between existing culture and desired culture, corporations and society as a whole seem to undermine the negative aspects, warping people into this toxic mentality. Once we can remove ourselves from the existing pressures of the corporate world, we will then be able to finally be in touch with our thoughts and mental stability. We will decide to end the race to the top of society's corporate ladder and begin the start of our life.
Strike Out,
Writers: Bella Ferretti & Mishalynn Brown
Editors: Noelle Knowlton, Blake Fiadino, & Jayna O
Tallahassee