Is My Workplace… Killing Me?

(A Joseph Campbell–Inspired Reflection on Burnout)**

I’ve been reading The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell, and there’s one passage that has been replaying in my mind like a mantra:

“The essence of life is that it lives by killing and eating.”“…they are living on death all the time.”

Campbell isn’t talking about violence; he’s talking about nature, cycles, and transformation. Even the simplest act, like eating a grape, is part of life-consuming life. One thing must end for another to continue.

And it made something click for me:

If all living things are part of a cycle that can be “killed”…what parts of us are being killed in the process of working the way we do?

Because for so many people, it’s not lions, storms, or mythical beasts killing us, it’s burnout. It’s anxiety. It’s the slow, quiet erosion of our energy, creativity, boundaries, and joy.

Since COVID, burnout has become one of the modern world’s biggest “killers” of inner life.

Not in a dramatic way, but in the subtle death of:

• our spark,

• our rest,

• our confidence,

• our emotional safety,

• our ability to breathe without feeling chased by expectations.

  
  

And here’s the deeper part Campbell teaches:

Life works in cycles, and those cycles repeat until we break them.

Burnout is not a one-off event. It’s a pattern. A loop.A ritual we never agreed to, but somehow keep performing.

We go on holiday thinking a week in the sun will resurrect us…but a holiday can only smooth the surface of a life that’s cracking underneath.

We come back, and nothing has changed: Same workload . Same pressure.Same expectations. Same “just push through.”Same, “next week will be calmer.”And the cycle begins again.

So the real question becomes:

Why is it so hard to stop a burnout cycle when we know it’s killing us slowly?

Because staying burnt out is familiar.Predictable.Socially praised. And sometimes, it feels safer than choosing ourselves.

But here’s what Campbell reminds us:

In every myth, something must “die” in order for the hero to be reborn.

Not you.Not your worth.But the pattern.

The overworking.The self-abandoning.The high-achiever martyrdom. The “I’ll rest when things calm down” fantasy. The belief that stress is a personality trait.

Those are the parts that are meant to die so you can live.

And now winter is here — the season of retreat, stillness, and introspection. The season where nature itself slows down, invites us inward, and whispers:

“Stop trying to bloom all year. “This is the time to restore. “You are not meant to run in survival mode.”

Winter is not forcing you to rest, it’s giving you permission.

This is the moment to look honestly at:

• your lifestyle,

• your working environment,

• your daily patterns,

• the way you treat yourself,

• and the parts of you that are tired of being sacrificed.

  
  

Because burnout doesn’t just happen. Burnout is what happens when we ignore the signs that something in our story needs to change.

Maybe Joseph Campbell’s lesson isn’t about death at all. Maybe it’s about rebirth, the rebirth that only comes after we stop pretending we’re fine.

You’re not weak for feeling exhausted. You’re not dramatic for wanting more. You’re not failing because you can’t keep burning at both ends.

You’re simply hearing the call to your own Hero’s Journey.

And maybe… just maybe…this winter is your moment to finally break the cycle.