This is a deeply personal post; I feel compelled to write it, though.
I used to think I was speaking about systems change.
Then my body interrupted the narrative.
During a PechaKucha talk I was meant to deliver cleanly, I started as planned - structured, sharp, controlled. Halfway through, my epilepsy began to surface. I ended up in hospital shortly after.
The talk changed shape that day.
And something unexpected happened afterwards.
People came up to me - not to discuss compassion, donor fatigue, waste systems, or circular economies - but to ask about mental wellbeing.
I remember thinking, “I don’t struggle with mental health.”
But I’ve learned to sit with that differently now.
Because burnout doesn’t always announce itself. Trauma from frontline work doesn’t always look like collapse. Sometimes it looks like functioning - until it doesn’t.
The work we do in impact spaces asks a lot of the nervous system. More than we admit. More than we measure.
I’m still unlearning what I thought resilience was.
And slowly learning that awareness isn’t weakness - it’s data.
Sometimes the system we need to redesign… is us.
I would love to hear from others, about burnout and PTSD.
www.youtube.com/@Onward.africa - video
