Five months into my second pregnancy I feel as though I am already as big as I was at eight months pregnant with my daughter. A few weeks ago, I pulled on my jeans one morning only to find that I could no longer fasten the zipper. So, that weekend, my husband, daughter and I piled into the car and headed into the nearby city.
This is really interesting. I agree so much with you that we should not valorise people working themselves into a state of burnout. The 'never give up' discourse also reminds me of Barbara Ehrenreich's writing in her book 'Smile or Die' about the culture surrounding cancer, and how the typical terms we use like 'battling' and 'fighting' leave people who can't survive with this terrible feeling that they didn't try hard enough or fight heard enough, and left them feeling isolated -ironically - from support groups.
This is really interesting. I agree so much with you that we should not valorise people working themselves into a state of burnout. The 'never give up' discourse also reminds me of Barbara Ehrenreich's writing in her book 'Smile or Die' about the culture surrounding cancer, and how the typical terms we use like 'battling' and 'fighting' leave people who can't survive with this terrible feeling that they didn't try hard enough or fight heard enough, and left them feeling isolated -ironically - from support groups.