Burnout: A Personal Weakness

Burnout: A reflection on Personal Weakness – Mark Dowling – 3/4/24

. Copyright belongs to respective owners: Photo belongs to Dzine (2013). Sculpture by Wolfgang Stiller

Reflection: -

“Briskly moving through each day,

Underestimating laws of decay,

Running, jumping

Never stopping,

Obsessive compulsion toward destruction.

Utilising neuron fires of the overworked mind,

Taking life too fast a pace, overcrowded, craving space!”

(M. Dowling)

The picture above is by German artist, Wolfgang Stiller. It’s called ‘Matchstick Men’. It was created with bamboo wood and head moulds from a mannequin production. The sculptures reflect the issue of ‘burnout syndrome” – The professional working class’s great malady! It’s a powerful image of how many working professionals feel. Additionally, it demonstrates the harsh reality that the match is finite – it has an end to it, and it doesn’t take long to reach the end. What’s left when the match burns out? A darkened face of something that was once alight with the flame of life. This is a struggle for me. As a musician, I wear different hats to earn a living – Teaching, concerts, accompanying choirs and coordinating music for churches – that’s excluding the other hats of ensuring I am exercising and maintaining friendships! I’m prone to “burning the candle at both ends”. I’m gradually learning to prioritise, and to become aware of when I’m saying yes to too many things because I know, begrudgingly, that life is short, that the match is flammable and that I should use its flammability to create more brightness in the world not to become a darkened face.

References:

Team. Publication. (2013). Art installation illustrate the harsh impact of Burnout Syndrome: Matchstick Men by German artist Wolfgang Stiller. [Online]. Dzine Trip. Last Updated: 4th March. Available at: https://dzinetrip.com/art-installation-illustrates-the-harsh-impact-of-burnout-syndrome-matchstick-m [Accessed 3 April 2024].