When the Zoomies are too much

Over the last week I’ve felt unusually sleepy and drained. In fact so much so yesterday that I slept the entire day. Since the beginning of August I’ve had something happening just about every weekend; ALP, KDS, Dog days and the contest, a visit from Alpha and now this weekend Southeast Black & Blue weekend. Although every event has been memorable, the lack of recovery time appears to be catching up with me.

I’ve not really had time, I think, to process event drop and it’s started to look more like event burnout. While event drop can have similar signs of sleepiness, depression and difficulty concentrating, event burnout can add low motivation, feeling overwhelmed by upcoming plans, and wanting time alone instead of a more social vibe.

I’ve heard this from a few others as well. We have a hard time saying no. We are asked to attend as presenters, we are there for visibility and we are there generally to have fun. However, that all adds up. We’ve not had a weekend at home in months, have not had a chance to catch up on sleep from late-night events, and the fatigue has a cumulative effect.

For me, I’ve reached that point. I’m super excited to be a featured presenter at this weekend’s SEBB Black & Blue weekend. It’s a continuation of all the work I’ve put in to be a part of my community more. I absolutely enjoy teaching, and my repertoire has definitely increased in the last year. I feel like I’ve become the kind of person I wish I’d had in my life when I first started exploring. I’ve got the 101 classes in my menu of classes, but am really proud that I’ve developed some more advanced classes. Don’t get me wrong, there are great things that can come out of a puppy 101 class, but it can also mean that you’ve saturated the events with them. I sometimes feel a lot of pressure to attend events. I do it because I genuinely enjoy them, but I need to remember that despite being a chaos corgi, I do not have unlimited social battery. I need to pause and see where I might be able to adjust. I need to consider what parts of events are essential and where I can find space to protect my energy.

Soon, I’m going to be flying to London for a few days before the pack flies to Gran Canaria for fetish week. Although the time will not be completely structured around rest, I should have the opportunity to lounge by the pool, spend some quality time with my chosen family and recover from my busy schedule. The plan over the next two weeks will, however, be structured around resting. After SEBB Black and Blue weekend, I plan on resting and recharging. I will be limiting my time out and if I do choose to go out, will only do so with some close friends. During the week I’m going to be reducing my nonessential plans, also going to get packed for Gran Canaria so that’s one less thing I have to stress about. I am also going to work on something that’s extremely hard for many to do, and that’s saying no. I need to remember that saying no doesn’t mean I’m not supporting the community; it’s more saying that I need to prioritize myself and will catch you at the next one.

None of this exhaustion came on suddenly. It’s built up over several weekends, and I chose to power through. Recognizing event burnout early can help find time to respond and make corrections. Rest is not wasted time. It is necessary for us to enjoy events and recover afterwards. I’m learning that lesson the hard way. It caught up with me in a way that my body finally forced me to rest. I will recover and be back to my normal chaos corgi self, but for now, I’m officially putting the zoomies on pause. Keep those tails up, puppers and I’ll see you when I’ve had a nice nap.