The Long Car Trip Metaphor and Third Wave COVID Burnout
“Are We There Yet?”
“Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” That feeling of sitting in the back of the car—powerless. The journey has been way too long. Someone (or something) else is driving, and the trip has gone on for way too long. There have even been fights between “the adults” where accusations have been hurled. “Does anybody really know where we are going?” Surely someone has taken a wrong turn. “Can we please ask somebody?” The mood in the car is getting grim…
“I’m Going to Get Out and Walk Myself”
That’s one option it seems people are taking. Leaving one’s job is trending. Is it perhaps an attempt to control something, in a time when too much seems out of our control? An article for National Public Radio in the US reported that four million people had left their jobs in April of 2021 alone, according to the US Department of Labor. Some workers were unhappy with work conditions surrounding COVID, some had second thoughts about their work since working remotely during lockdowns, and some seemed to have had some kind of spiritual awakening about the type of work they wanted to do.
“Let’s Pull Over at the Next Rest Stop”
Tensions in the car are rising, the ability to make good judgements is compromised, and the chances of some kind of accident happening are increasing exponentially: Time Out! In the second quarter of 2021 in Denmark, people going on sick leave rose by 28%. The US is still the only wealthy nation in the world without paid sick leave for its citizens. Perhaps this fact is contributing to “I’m Going to Get Out and Walk Myself.” According to the survey company ValuePenguin, one in five adults in the US have sought therapy related to pandemic anxiety or stress. In the same survey, 35% of the adult respondents that didn’t seek out therapy cited the barrier of not having the therapy covered by their insurance plans.
“Wait a Second, We’re Driving In Circles!”
Yeah—we’ve been here before—twice or more times, depending on how you’re counting. This is one of the main drivers of the fact that public trust is eroding around how citizens feel their governments are handling the pandemic. This seems to be the case no matter what poll you look at of any government in any country. Even countries where trust has been very high in the government, like Denmark, the level of trust has dropped during the latest wave of COVID infections.
“Get Out, I’m Driving Now”
In the US, interest in divorce was 34% higher in March of 2020 during the first lockdown, than it was the year before, according to Yahoo Finance. In Denmark, the divorce rate was 35% in 2019, and it increased to 48% in 2020 during the pandemic, according to Statistics Denmark. Not surprisingly, these trends were fueled by couples being stuck at home with each other, homeschooling children, and facing serious financial and health concerns.
Mixing Metaphors: Is the Journey the Destination?
Ok, maybe the long car trip metaphor is running out of gas, so how about taking an offramp into another metaphor: Could the journey be the destination? As we’ve mentioned in previous blog articles, we are both married fathers of three children each, and while being extremely privileged to live in a country like Denmark—where there is a lot of social support—we have lived out our fair share of “long drive metaphors.” In our opinion, the journey definitely is the destination. If we as humans are constantly looking out there ahead somewhere for an endpoint destination, we squander the time we have to be present with those we love. And, yeah—sometimes the car ride is long and extremely uncomfortable—but we have agency to make things better. We have our acute stress toolkit that includes breathwork (box breathing, or slow belly breaths), meditation, and moving a muscle and changing a thought. We also use the tool of always working our way through some kind of spiritual book. It all helps. We may never know what’s coming next on this long drive—but if we take care of ourselves and use the tools we have—the drive is going to be more enjoyable for ourselves and the ones we love. And maybe—just maybe—we can view each hardship as an opportunity to train us at being better humans, and value the journey over the destination.
Until next time
Scott and Lennart