HOW TO AVOID
COMPASSI ON E X H AUSTI ON
Purpose-driven business leaders are not impervious to burnout; here are 4 ways to combat stress and depression
BY GIA DUKE
I
n December 1999, Julia “Butterfly” Hill’s feet hit the ground for the first time in 738 days. Many of us who consider ourselves change-makers know the story well. What began as a weeklong sit-in to protect a 1,000-year-old redwood tree near Stafford, California, became her residence for two years as she and a group of activists from Earth First! protested deforestation. People often wonder how she did it. What does 738 days in a tree do to one’s compassion for our planet and forests, one’s resolve, and one’s sense of self? In her book “The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and The Struggle to Save the Redwoods,” Hill comments on her lowest moments. “Each time I’d start to feel that the fire inside me was just too weak to burn any longer and that I couldn’t face another day, the great spirits of the universe would send something to fan those flames and burst them back into the bonfire I needed to renew my strength. Sometimes it would be a call from a friend. Other times it would involve a prayer being answered more quickly than I could have thought possible.” Even the toughest and most committed leaders among us experience moments where we doubt our own ability to solve the problem we’ve vowed to address. As a result, we’re left feeling run down, burned out, and helpless. Many of us are driven by empathy and compassion. We understand each other in
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Q3 / SUMMER 2019
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CONSCIOUS COMPANY MAGAZINE
