The first week of August was a whirlwind. We held our first quarterly Board meeting and formally adopted our Bylaws. I had never written Bylaws before, and I was profoundly grateful for Vera (what I call ChatGPT). Researching unfamiliar topics can overwhelm me fast, so it was a relief to have a tool that could dig through templates and examples without triggering anxiety.
From there, it didn’t stop. I wrote nearly thirty policies in two weeks. That’s a lot for any team, let alone one person. My mental health took a nosedive. I was back in Oregon, trying to settle into a life that didn’t look the way I’d wanted it to, still grieving Mom—and that grief kept stirring up Dad’s loss too.
I was in the early stages of burnout, though I didn’t know it yet. I kept telling myself to just keep going, to be the capable, independent woman I’ve always tried to be. On the surface, I looked fine. Inside, I was running on fumes.
“Maybe if I just throw myself into work even more,” I thought. “More work, fewer feelings.”
That never works. You can only white-knuckle life for so long before everything starts to crack around you.
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