Burnt Out.
When people said they were burnt out, I didn’t just get it.
I understood what “burnt out” meant, but I just did not know why they would allow themselves get to that point.
Until it happened to me twice. And I found myself shaking, blank, curled up like a baby.
But who would know? Who would think twice to see beyond the smiles we put on our faces? The sunscreen we place underneath our eye bags?
Who would look enough to care? The world is a fast-paced war zone where we are all chasing the next big thing, the next survival hack…so when we break down completely, we talk ourselves out of therapy and into the next exhaustion. Why?
Picture this:
INT/EXT. ROOM. 6PM
DARA (F, 26) jumps on the bed after two days spent handling 2 events and after one full week of constant preparation.
She thinks outwardly to herself.
DARA: Wo, let me rest small jor. Tomorrow I start again.
DARA picks up phone to watch a movie. But somehow, her hands detour to YouTube then Spotify, and the next thing she’s hearing??👇
(Here are 5 reasons why you’ll not reach your goals in 2026)
DARA sighs, watches the video to the end, then drops the phone.
She springs up from the bed suddenly and goes to fetch her notebook to get back to work. Not caring that her eyes literally hurt from all the sleepless nights. Not caring that her running nose signals incoming fever. She gets back to creating; because she doesn’t want to lag behind, because her whole world is expecting from her and she’s the one falling behind).
This is the story of DARA.
🍀🍀
One night when I dozed off on a script I was writing, mummy crept into my room, closed my laptop, and shook her head while speaking in igbo:
“These children of nowadays eh. Look at them killing themselves all in the pursuit of money. Money! How many of them even remember what living is like?”
She thought I was sleeping. I thought I was too. But I listened to that part. I heard it. I let it sink in. The depth of it. The meaning of that rant in all its truth.
Did I let it change me? Well, still finding out.
But is it the reality of millions of us youths killing ourselves faster than our age?
Yes.
Amazing.
Amazing indeed, that it is.
Okay.
Bye for now.