Compassion Fatigue

Remember how I told you that I was being interviewed for a documentary?

Well, that happened last night.

Hence, the lack of blogging yesterday…it was just a crazy day and the kids were being insanely hyper and disobedient.  Even Jill.  Undercover Naughty.

It wasn’t one of my best mommy performances.

But then Andy came home just as the film crew got here and whisked them away to Costco and a healthy nutritious dinner at McDonald’s.

It makes me happy to think of him on a Daddy Date with all three.  I think it’s sweet.

And then I sat on the couch, answering question after question about Compassion Fatigue.

What is Compassion Fatigue?

Here was my answer:

I think that people are exposed to so much hurt and pain and stories of saddness on such a regular basis.

It’s one natural disaster after the other.

Cancer diagnosis’ every time we turn around.

Friends struggling.

Our own struggles and issues.

It’s on the front page of the newspaper as we sip our coffee.  We check the weather for the day and it’s scrolling along the bottom of the television screen.  We flip open our internet browser, and it’s on the Yahoo home page.  We read our favorite blog and there’s a story of loss.  We hear it on the radio on the way to pick up the kids from school.  Our friends tell us about their woes over a caramel macchiato in a coffee house corner booth.

We are surrounded.

The internet is amazing.

The blogging world is awesome.

It gives the average Joe (or Jane) a platform in a way that no other form of media has been able to do.

Anyone who signs up for a free blogspot account…a free facebook account…a free twitter account…

Can use that free and very public (and potentially far reaching) forum as our very own virtual soap box.

Everyone has a cause.

Everyone has a passion.

With the strike of a few keys and a click of a mouse, anyone can be an advocate.

And that is awesome.

I love that the internet gives people a voice.

But.

It can be overwhelming.

It can be too much.

Saturation.

And here’s what happens:

People feel overwhelmed.

People feel hopeless.

Overwhelmed at the number and size and depth of the problems.

Hopeless to help.  Feeling like there is nothing they can do to change it.

Unless they are Bill Gates and can give millions of dollars, their $10 won’t even make a dent.

Besides, they have so much going on in their own lives.  They’ll help when they get their own stuff under control.

Overwhelmed + Hopeless = Shut Down Completely

Don’t know what to do.  Know you can’t fix it.  Don’t even bother trying.

Block it out.  Move on.

The funny thing is…this sad little formula is exactly why I started Life Rearranged.

To battle Compassion Fatigue.

Except that I had no idea there was an actual term for it.  Or that it was a sociological phenomenon being studied by academics.

Compassion Fatigue sucks.

And I have the proof that your donation…no matter how small…makes a difference.

Fifteen thousand dollars from a bunch of random moms across the country?  Check.

Children being adopted out of orphanages around the globe?  Check.

Phone calls to NILMDTS for their sister who just lost her baby, and before this series, they’d never even heard of it?  Check.

Compassion Fatigue can kiss my butt.

That’s what I have to say.

Our series and fundraiser ends this week.

Think about it, k?

• Bio
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Latest Posts

jeannett

I'm a mom to four. A wife to one. I believe in story. I love telling you about mine and would love to hear yours. There's really no sense in wasting our suffering and not sharing in each other's joy. We're all in this together...even if it doesn't always feel like it.

@jeannettg

Follow @jeannettg

jeannett

Latest posts by jeannett (see all)

• Dirt in a Jar, Laundry Scientists, and Clean Water - October 20, 2015
• Because Cake. - October 11, 2015
• How to design a luxury bathroom for less - August 12, 2015