Compassion Fatigue Like Poison Ivy

From The Art of Itchy

If normally you have a good memory, but lately you can’t remember anything.

If normally you’re in good spirits, but lately you’re short-tempered.

If normally you’re agile, but lately you drop things.

If normally you’re skillful, but now you’re sloppy.

If normally you drink socially, but lately you just drink.

If normally you fit the distribution model.

If normally you are enthusiastic.

If normally you get by.

If normally you can.

If normally you try.

If you feel like you’re becoming numb.

If you feel like you’re alone.

If you feel like smoke rising from the camp fire.

If you feel a burning sensation.

If you feel hopeless,

empty,

confused,

delirious.
If you feel funky.

If you feel like tiny sticks in bundles.

If you feel like a library card.

Like a broken bottle of wine.

If you feel like the spill,

or if you feel every inch of your skin,

every itch.

You might try a warm bath.

You might take a mental health day.

You might take a vow of silence.

You might watch a movie or make your bed.

Perhaps a shower?

Perhaps you have a friend who will listen.

It’s a gradual process.

It doesn’t happen overnight.

It creeps.

It’s a rash.

It’s cumulative.

Each time the stone is carried upward, it accretes more.

It is a physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual exhaustion.

The resin is very sticky.