The people who care the deepest are often the ones who learn to hide their exhaustion the best. Sometimes the work we do in education asks us to give endlessly.. emotionally, mentally and relationally. And somewhere in that process, many of us who care with intention and depth… quietly begin carrying more than they were ever meant to hold alone.
In spaces of education, leadership and caregiving, compassion is celebrated so much that we rarely pause to ask what happens when empathy begins to overflow its own boundaries. When support slowly becomes emotional absorption. When caring quietly becomes carrying !!
Grateful to have my article, “When Caring Becomes Carrying”- under the theme ‘The trap of Altruistic fatigue’, published in the latest edition of Asha The Hope magazine.
Writing this article was deeply personal and reflective for me. It brought language to conversations. It made me pause and think about the spaces between empathy and over-identification.
As educators and leaders, we often focus on how to give more. But perhaps sustainability begins when we also learn how to witness, regulate and hold compassion without losing ourselves within it. And so the Bhagavad Geeta says-
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय ।
“Established in inner balance, perform your actions, abandoning attachment.”
— Bhagavad Gita 2.48
Thankful to Asha The Hope magazine for creating space for conversations that feel both human and necessary. asha_the hope
The full magazine can be downloaded through the original post below. I would truly love for you to read the article and hear your reflections on it. 🙂
