Burnout is when even rest is exhausting. It's when you don't feel like working, resting, or thinking. I didn't immediately realize what was wrong with me. I just woke up one morning and felt nothing.

Recovery started with the simplest of things - sleep. Then walking. Then silence. I turned off the background noise of life: notifications, advice, expectations. I just listened to myself. Sometimes I didn't hear anything. But I kept being present.

Slowing down helped me. Simple things: making soup, putting things in order, reading a paper book. And most importantly, permission to not be “productive.” Just being.

Now I'm coming back to myself, one step at a time. Tired - but alive. And it's no longer that running around in circles, but a journey with attention to myself. I don't want to burn out again. I want to live - slowly, honestly, truly.