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This is a podcast for anyone feeling stretched thin by work, activism, caregiving, or just surviving under systems that weren’t built for our thriving. On Balm in the Burnout, we speak with artists, organizers, and community builders about what’s helping us stay grounded and resourced in the face of burnout. Together, we reclaim our right to soothe, heal, and make hopeful, sustainable action.
[00:00:00]
Megan: Welcome to Balm in the Burnout- a podcast for cross-sector people and professionals navigating personal and systemic burnout. Whether you're a doctor, educator, farmer, caregiver, or simply trying to survive under the weight of broken systems. This podcast is here to offer solace strategy and solidarity.
Welcome back to Balm in the Burnout. I am Megan Hadley, a Minneapolis based health coach educator, mindfulness instructor, and more. And today I'm talking with an old friend and I consider you a colleague 'cause we work in similar spaces. Allison Breininger. Allison became a caregiver. When her husband was diagnosed [00:01:00] with Fanconi anemia in 2011, she has been by his side through a bone marrow transplant and multiple cancers fueled by what she has experienced, Allison founded the nonprofit The Negative Space as a way to use her 20 years in education and 14 years of caregiving to change the way caregivers are seen and supported through The Negative Space. She co-hosts the In Sickness podcast, provides individual coaching, facilitate support groups and education sessions, partners with multiple organizations to more intentionally support caregivers, and sells caregiver gift boxes.
So Allison, thank you so much for being with me today.
Allison: Thanks for the invitation, Megan. I'm glad to be here.
Megan: Yay. Well, I would love to kick us off by hearing about a moment recently when you felt really present.
Allison: So I am [00:02:00] very into plants and gardening and and so I have gotten into a new routine this spring summer, in which, in the morning the dog and I go outside and I've got the coffee in my hand and a hand, a pocket full of dog traits. And I walk around the perimeter of the garden and I literally. Say good morning to all of the plants and it's quiet, but probably the neighbors, anybody nearby would probably be like, okay, wow.
But I don't care. So I'm saying good morning to each of them and I'm checking on each one. And I have a lot of plants. And so like sort of greeting them, checking in and affirming them and being like, Ooh, you look good. Or, oh, this is, look at this new thing. And in the meantime, to keep the dog happy and quiet, I'm just like chucking little treats out into the yard.
And then he comes back to my side and gets more treats to get more. And it's just this lovely sort of moment and it makes me feel very grounded. Present. And then the fun thing about gardening is that, two hours later I can go out [00:03:00] and do it again, and things are different and new. And so it's just this like little bits of joy.
And sometimes there's oh, that plant was there last night and now a rabbit has eaten it overnight. So there's, it's not always joy, but it's just this sort of ever changing, ever growing thing that I'm tending to. And it's beauty that I. Can take in and I can look out the window ad. And so that's become my morning ritual and I think really helps sort of set me up for the day.
Megan: Yeah. And creating those relationships with the living beings in the land that you're attending, and my goodness, what do you do in the winter?
Allison: Sad cry.
Megan: Every
Allison: do. Yes, exactly. I do have lots of indoor plants. And so in the winter it's not quite as much because the indoor plants don't change as much, you know what I mean? So it's not quite as much, but I do tend to those. But it is a lot, it is sad in the winter, which is why this is such a joyful, a joyful time to be outside and.
Be in the air and not freezing cold For once in the first [00:04:00] six. For the first time in the last six months,
Megan: totally. And you're describing that novelty and the change in plants that can really bring. Presence for you too, which is such an important piece of that kind of wonder
Allison: Yeah. Absolutely. Yes, definitely. And just noticing, I call 'em micro moments, but noticing these tiny little things like it doesn't have to be. The huge, enormous, like big news kind of thing. To me, the big news might be like, oh, I didn't know this flower was gonna look like this. Oh this one has a new bud.
Or, just like these tiny little things that are actually pretty miraculous when you stop and think about it. So it's really increased my amount of awe and wonder in this season.
Megan: Mm-hmm. And a practice that can shift with your needs for the day too. It could be a two minute walk or a 20 minute walk.
Allison: yes. And then sometimes with my husband, who is very patient with me and my teenager who's less I might say, okay, I gotta show you what happened today. And then I bring [00:05:00] them on a garden walk and, and so then I can share that joy with other people too.
Megan: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that.
Allison: Absolutely. Thanks for asking. It was a good thing to ponder, so thanks for asking that.
Megan: And now I know we're gardening buddies, so that makes
Allison: Yes, yes, yes. All the best people are right. Yes.
Megan: So next I wanna talk about health and wellbeing. You know, me coming from this kind of wellness space, but understanding. Health and wellbeing is so much more than just what society tells us it is. So what is your frame on health and wellbeing right
Allison: Yeah, well, you know, so I am a caregiver. You, as you described, who my husband who continues to have cancer after cancer, he has surgery scheduled for next week to have more cancer removed. And so when I think about health and wellbeing, I sort of see it in two ways. I, and then through my work, I support caregivers as well.
And so I think about the people who have the disease, the illness, the injury, and [00:06:00] their health and wellbeing. But then I also really focus on what's the health and wellbeing of the caregiver, the person who is as I like to say, in the negative space, which is an artistic term, which is everything that's in the background of a picture, but that is so often overlooked and underappreciated.
And so I. I think about how, when people look at my husband's body and medical chart, they're like, oh. And so then when they look at me, they're like, oh, well you're fine. Right? And actually, the impact that being a caregiver for 14 years has had on my health and wellbeing is immense. It's less visible.
But it is immense. And so I spend my time thinking about those two spaces, people who are in these really dire medical situations and their health and wellbeing, but also this sort of invisible impact of caregiving on the wellbeing of a caregiver.
Megan: Yeah, hugely important. I mean, just the compassion fatigue alone of providers and also the [00:07:00] supporters of people, but then also. Whatever happens for them and for you and feeling like I, it's really hard 'cause I don't wanna make this about me, but this is affecting me.
Allison: Yes. Yes. And I've even had to, like, when I've gone to my general, checkups for the year on paper, I look fine. My labs look fine. And so I've had to say to them, I need you to know what my daily life looks like. I need you to know some of the experiences that I go through on a weekly basis.
So that you can screen me for things and know these things about me and be more responsive when I say that this or that or whatever. Because on paper, yes, I look like a super healthy 45-year-old, but actually I've gone through like 18 lifetimes already, and I have to really explain that to my providers and to other people because they wouldn't know that otherwise.
Megan: Yeah, it takes that capacity to do that Self-advocacy. And tell that story. Know how to tell [00:08:00] it succinctly in a care sitting or be paired with the right provider who's willing to take the time to
Allison: Right? Yes, absolutely. Yep. And I would love it if at some point, providers, that was a question that they asked. Was is are you caregiving? You know, what does that look like in your life? Because so many of us are, whether it's little ones or spouses or parents or whatever. Just because I think if providers start to ask that question, that opens up the gates of oh, I have a better sense of what it is that you go through on a daily basis
Megan: Mm-hmm.
Allison: and how that might be affecting your health.
Megan: All right, listen up. Healthcare teams,
Allison: Yes,
Megan: as we hate intake surveys, they are useful.
Allison: Yes, absolutely. Yeah,
Megan: collaboration and whatnot.
Allison: for sure.
Megan: well I read your bio, so we know a little bit about what The Negative Space does, but just tell us what you wanna tell us
Allison: Yeah.
Megan: The Negative Cpace.
Allison: For sure. So I started it years ago because what I was noticing was that as a caregiver I was, I went to a caregiver support [00:09:00] group and all the caregivers there were just talking about what a gift it is that I'm a caregiver, that I get to do this and what a blessing it is. And I was like, what about the hard stuff you guys?
Like, why are we not talking about the hard stuff? And I started to look around and notice that very few people were talking about how hard it is to be a caregiver. I really dug into why that was and came up with a couple of reasons. One of which is that sort of, as I alluded to before, that if I look at oh, in comparison to my husband, I'm like, I'm fine, right?
Like, who am I to complain? Right? I think that there's a feeling of that. I think there's also this culture of toxic positivity in the world that maybe a caregiver did take a moment to say, oh, this is really hard. I'm exhausted. And you know, what they are often met with that is well. Well, at least he's still okay.
Or at least, and then caregivers recognize like, oh, there is not space for me to talk about the hard stuff here. It's gonna be just bright sided as I like to say. And so then they shut down and they just get used to saying what a blessing and a gift it is, which it certainly can be in some context, [00:10:00] right?
But that's only part of the story. And so I really started to say we gotta talk about this. And so I started, this was back when blogs were a thing. I started blogging about it and people really said like, you have my words and this is, you have my story, and I didn't know we could talk about this.
And then from there I just saw this is what I need to be doing. And then it turned into a nonprofit. And now, our mission is really to change the way caregivers are seen and supported. We have direct services, but then I also realize it's not enough to just make the caregivers feel seen and supported when they're with us at the negative space because they're in the world the rest of the time.
And so then the other part of our mission is really to get out there and to educate medical professionals, medical students, places of worship, like all the people who are gonna, you know, even friends and family to like, how can we educate them so that they can better show up for and understand the caregivers in their life.
So even on our podcast today, it was about the topic of that caregivers are, feel like they're supposed to be the strong one. And I [00:11:00] asked the question to caregivers, how do you feel when someone says, stay strong?
And the responses were, people were just like, I would rather have someone tell me to calm down in the middle of a panic attack. You know, like, or saying things like this just made me feel like they don't get it. They don't get it at all. And so that's the other part of our mission is really to, in addition to the direct support, is to educate the world on what it is to be a caregiver and how others can show up for us and help us feel more seen and supported and validated in this hard thing that we're going through.
Megan: Yeah, and how powerful to create that. Vulnerable container for people to really say, I see that too. I feel that too, and here's what my experience is. That's what we do so often in coaching is just there aren't many containers for that to be held in a way where maybe we aren't giving advice. We aren't judgmental, we are not trying to fix the problem.[00:12:00]
We're just present
Allison: yep.
Megan: and building community around whatever it is we're going through.
Allison: Yes, exactly. Well said. Mm-hmm. And that's what we're trying a beautiful, just way to describe what we're trying to do. Yeah.
Megan: Yeah. Oh, and you've been doing this for so long, like how do you see now that you're building this culture for caregivers? Like how are people showing up differently once they intersect with your work?
Allison: Yeah. What I see is that caregivers themselves are starting to talk about and acknowledge the hard stuff. Whereas before, like I said, they were sort of sugarcoating themselves and now even if they don't feel like they can say it in their own words, they're at least able to like, share one of our podcast episodes or share a piece of our writing and just put it out there a little bit.
They're able to stand up a little bit for themselves, like our whole theme of things. We have these caregiver gift boxes and mugs and things that say I'm part of the story. And these mugs, I mean, there's probably a thousand of 'em out there in the world at this point. And [00:13:00] so then we just get these pictures of caregivers like clutching this mug in the morning and starting their day with like, I'm part of the story.
And even if they don't feel like they can say that out loud to anyone, like they have that little mantra for themselves. And so we're just seeing that people are really saying wow, I felt seen. I cannot, nobody can fix these really hard situations that these caregivers are in, but to be in the hard situation and to be unseen is this double whammy.
Megan: Yeah.
Allison: And so if I can have a space, you know, we have these support groups every other week, and it's not like we fix things. But at least there's a space. And what I love, it's all on Zoom because caregivers can't often leave the house and at a certain time. And so we're on Zoom. We have people from Canada and Australia and all across the country, and someone will say something really vulnerable and the other heads in little boxes start nodding.
And you can just see the speaker just be like, what you [00:14:00] two? Really, and the power of that. Like I, I mean I'm, I got chills just talking about it, it's just the power of realizing I'm not alone in this. I'm not the only person going through this is so immense and I think, it's such an isolating experience.
You know, we are caregiving often happens right here in the home. Nobody knows what we're doing. They can't see what we're doing. Or we're in the er or we're someplace where nobody else can see it, and it can feel so isolating. And then if our person is homebound, like our world just gets smaller and smaller and smaller.
Often our friends, you said the compassion fatigue of our friends. Right. Such a huge thing that sometimes people show up in the beginning and then after a while they're like, oh, you, you're still sick. Really? And so our world gets so small and so isolated and so lonely. That to be in that zoom room and look around and it's you know, we don't want anyone else to have to be going through this, but if, but to see oh, you feel that too, I'm not a terrible person for feeling like this, or I'm not the only one, or I'm not weak, or, unique for feeling like I [00:15:00] just wanna run away or I just can't do it anymore.
Uh, I mean that's, that's everything right there. The fact that I am in a place in my life where I'm able to provide that for people just feels like a gift.
Megan: A huge gift, and I love hearing you talk about just the inspiration for it and
Allison: Mm-hmm.
Megan: blogging and writing your own story helped you realize just your skills and your interest and your capacity to hold space for others and their stories. Not everyone. Has the life to do that or the skills or the interest.
So you saying yes to this thing that evolved seems like an important part of it too.
Allison: Yeah. It really feels like the, this sort of magical intersection of. The caregiving experience and then the work experience that I had where I was coaching coaches and training trainers and creating content. And so I had always been facilitating groups, right? And so there's some people who have a caregiving story and then they try to facilitate groups.
[00:16:00] But just the one doesn't mean you're good at the other, right? And so the fact that I had this combination of skills. It really has come together so beautifully. And then my husband was in the nonprofit management sector before he was diagnosed, and so now he does the nonprofit part of things and it just really feels like, oh wow, this is sort of, was all meant to be.
Not that we want it to happen and that it's terrible and I am not trying to brightside it. And it feels like all of these puzzle pieces coming together to, to really create this beautiful thing that we're able to do for other people.
Megan: Yeah, that you've each found a sense of purpose in kind of giving on, giving back, being with walking alongside.
Allison: Yes, exactly. Yeah.
Megan: Well, I'd love to hear and dive just a little bit deeper into the burnout piece that you're noticing for caregivers, whether that's in general or for [00:17:00] you. Like how does this show up for people who maybe don't know about it?
Allison: Yeah, absolutely. So it's huge for all of us. Someone recently asked me, actually it was a therapist at a set, at a event I was at, and she's was asking to caregivers that, you know, often, participate in things like hallucinogenics and things like that to support their trauma. And I said from my experience, caregivers like we have to stay on all the time and we can't do things like that.
That might mean that we are not fully aware and able to just jump to at any moment. And she's like, well what about like at the end of your shift? And I was like, there's not an end of the shift. Like as a caregiver, like I sleep with one eye open and one ear open and have for 14 years.
And so you think about, we talk a lot about our nervous system in fight or flight and how as we, as caregivers, we are on alert and have been for years and years and years, and how our bodies are not meant for that. And so what can often happen I know I'm preaching in the choir here, but what can often happen when has happened to [00:18:00] me is I've gone into that shutdown mode.
You know, we tip over into that, out of that window of tolerance and into that piece of, I cannot, I cannot. For me, that was showing up as really frequent migraines. Almost, it got to a point where it was almost weekly migraines. And that was just my body's way of saying, I cannot, like, you're not gonna slow down.
I'm gonna make you get in that bed. I'm gonna make it happen. This often happens and it happened for me when I, you know, I had this big other job before I took this and I was trying to do both things at the same time. I left the big job to do this full time and I was like, here I am. I'm gonna live my best life.
And then I had probably one of the hardest years I've had, and I think it was because all of those emotions that had been shoved down while I had this other big 40 hour week job finally were like, ah, there's room for me now. Here I come. And I was panicking and I was anxious and I was. Exhausted and I was [00:19:00] weepy and I was like, what is going on?
And then I just realized what was happening. And it was just and that often also happens for folks when, you know, if we talk about survivorship, let's say their person, finished radiation, rang that bell at the cancer center, or the person's in remission and everyone kinda leaves 'em and says, you're good.
And then that's kind of the moment when the treatments end. So the caregiver often has that moment of, what did I just go through? And then that's when the emotions come out. That's when the burnout hits. Because often when we're in it, our bodies are just like, we're going and we're going and going and going and going and going and going.
And it's more, actually, I have found when the quiet moment hits
Megan: Mm-hmm.
Allison: that the burn, the burnout happens from all that has happened before it. And I was in a space just to paint the picture. I was feeling the feeling so much that I had a moment where I wished for an emergency. Because I knew if I had an emergency that would like click back on again and I wouldn't feel it,
Megan: Hmm.[00:20:00]
Allison: be in go mode again.
And I wouldn't be like feeling the raw things the way I was because I was in a quiet moment. And so, I mean, at these support groups and things, we talk about this all, we are tired, you know, it is a tired, in every way tired group of people. And I think it such a hard thing is. Sometimes there's an acute caregiving situation, oh, this person has a broken leg for a couple of months, or something like that.
But not the people I work with. Typically, it is a serious illness or a chronic illness. And the hard thing is knowing this isn't gonna get easier, doesn't, isn't gonna end anytime soon. And if it does end, that probably means that our person passed away and we don't want that either. Right? And so, staring down this endless road of more.
More of what has gotten us to this burnout state so hard and there's not, like I said, there isn't a good solution to that. And often it, we just [00:21:00] come more to like, okay, what can we do to get ourselves from one moment to the next moment, to the next moment? And we have to just like sometimes stay like what's right in front of us because it can feel daunting to be like, okay, I'm either going to continue to do this, a really hard thing or something harder.
Megan: Yep.
Allison: There isn't really an easier option for a lot of us caregivers, and that can just feel, I mean, it, the dread and the exhaustion and the fear and the anxiety all of the feelings. And so I don't know caregivers who aren't burnout really, to be honest. The statistics are pretty. There's so many statistics, but a couple.
One is that 90% caregivers are 90% more likely to experience anxiety daily than their peers. And that 70% of caregivers show signs of clinical depression
Megan: Mm-hmm.
Allison: and then all of the physical things we're more likely to have the strokes and the heart disease and all of the things. And we're actually 60%, [00:22:00] we have a 60% higher mortality rate.
Than our peers. And so that's terrifying too, right? And so it's like, wait, I'm going through this really hard thing and I'm probably gonna be the next patient. They come some sometimes call caregivers the second patient because it's so hard on us that often it leads to health problems in us as well.
It just can feel like it's piled on top of thing. On top of thing, on top of thing, and we just have to keep kind of like crawling our way forward somehow.
Megan: Yeah. Thank you for describing. So personally, what that has felt like for you and the process of getting to that point, those quiet moments that really stuck with me. I mean, in a very novel way. You know, again, my experience. At least, you know, you think about burnout in college or whatever it was, and how at the end of every semester you get sick, right?
Allison: Yes, yes.
Megan: [00:23:00] Psycho-neuro-immunology behind that of just stating you're in this go mode, you're producing, you're constantly working, and when you let your defenses down and you rest and you relax, then the body responds, right? And I'm
Allison: yes, exactly.
Megan: yeah. And how. Few quiet moments you maybe get, or when you do get a quiet season, how it's not actually might not be easier.
Allison: Right. Yeah. Yeah. And so many people have said it, it's harder emotionally actually, which just feels like a kick in the gut, right? Oh man, now we're not at the doctor. But now I'm home crying because, and I think it, because also if you don't understand what's happening, it can feel really.
Jarring. Like for me, when I had that big, terrible year, I kept thinking, I'm supposed to be living my best life right now. I'm, this is what I had dreamed of,
Megan: Mm-hmm.
Allison: am I panicking? You know? And so yeah, that's why we're really trying to talk about it so that when it does happen that people understand like, [00:24:00] oh, I see.
At least they can understand what's going on with them and not add to the list of feeling like, what something's wrong with me, or I'm strange, or I'm, you know what I mean? Like I'm broken. It's like, no, actually this is perfectly. Normal, unexpected. It's just not something that we talk about.
Megan: Right. So even just changing our expectations of what it might look like to have those different seasons,
Allison: yes,
Megan: I think that's really important. Well, I would love to switch gears 'cause I know we really wanted to talk about your new thing happening with the negative space, which is the storyline.
So tell us what this is.
Allison: sure. So what I realized is actually part of this burnout for me was I can't be there for everybody. I'm just one person, and so how can I help caregivers in all the moments and thinking about how caregivers often need help. Is it at the hospital bedside? Is it in the er? Is it the middle of the night time when the support group isn't available?
Or Allison's maybe offline, right? And when I created the storyline, it's an online resource for caregivers and [00:25:00] it's divided into what we call chapters. And so there's one for being, if your person's newly diagnosed, there's one for surgery day, there's one for trying to work while caregiving.
There's one for realistic self-care. Because I really hate when people talk about caregiving and self-care because it's often unrealistic. But this is a whole, we call them chapters of realistic self-care. And so if within each of those chapters we've created original tools, I. Just for caregivers. So there's things like, there's a welcome video for me.
There's reflection questions, there's pieces of writing, there's the podcast episodes that relate. There's a guided meditation that we have written just for caregivers just around that topic. And that is read by a friend of ours who is the most beautiful voice. There's creative expression, there's nervous system, yoga videos, there's sound baths, like everything, every type of learning style that you could possibly want or need.
Is there. And so that people can search in whatever moment they're in. So if they're thinking like, oh, I'm feeling really [00:26:00] burnout, they could go to the realistic self-care chapter. Or maybe they're thinking, you know, what I really need right now is some sort of winding down for bedtime yoga. They can go to the yoga section and then see all of the yoga things.
And so it's really meant to just meet their needs in a really accessible. Way and to give them the whole thing is really realistic self-care. Right. And part of that is that check-in that caregivers are not very good at about what do I need right now? And so the website itself actually ask, makes them ask that question of themselves which we're not used to asking ourselves as caregivers what we need and what we're interested in and what we want.
And so, so yeah, it's built into these eight chapters. We're gonna keep building chapters as we go. The first two, newly diagnosed and transitioning into a season of caregiving are free and available to everybody forever. Beyond that, it's 5 99 a month. But we also, we are a nonprofit that is dedicated to providing everything at little to no cost.
So there's a button, anything that we offer, there's always a button that says, if this cost is a prohibitive, [00:27:00] click here and we will send it to you for free. So we never want cost to be an issue. But it just is something that I hope that people will put into their toolkit for those, both of their sort of proactive daily.
Moments of, here's things I need, but also the reactive moments. Like my husband's having surgery next week, I'm gonna use, be using those surgery day tools to support myself in that. And so knowing that something is there in their pocket for them so they can find it on our negative space website, it's just the negative space life.
And there's a storyline button there and they can explore there.
Megan: I can't wait to explore this. I'm on your mailing list, and so I got the physical thing about it and I was like, I can't wait to talk to Allison about
Allison: Oh good. Thank
Megan: Definitely need to add it to my resources for clients. For myself, I have been in those surgery days and been like, I guess I need a funny movie to watch while I'm waiting.
Like, you know, what do you do?
Allison: Exactly. And the waiting rooms are the worst and they always have like, a wheel of fortune playing or something. It's terrible. And so it's like, okay, what do we need instead?[00:28:00]
The other thing I wanna mention is that you can also give it, it's a gift subscription to a friend.
Megan: Hmm.
Allison: Often we hear oh man, my friend's, wife was just diagnosed, what do I do? And so now you can send them a three, a six or 12 month subscription to membership, to the storyline because you might not know what to say, but to them, but I do.
And so just let me do the work for you and just send them the sub subscription and they'll, really feel seen and heard in that way.
Megan: Oh, that's so wonderful. You're making it accessible. You're providing different ways to engage with the work, so I like that you talked about direct services versus just online asynchronous learning. Yeah, I know we're like coming close to the end of our time, but I feel like we're gonna have to do part two episode another time because you just have so much wisdom to share.
Allison: Thank you.
Megan: I'm curious if you could share with our listeners one small way that you reduce your risk of burnout every day or on the regular.
Allison: Yeah. I think it's really those micro [00:29:00] moments that I alluded to earlier. It's that I'm always kind of looking for something little and beautiful, that to spark a little bit of joy. You know, I'm sure you've heard now people are calling them glimmers, you know? And so, my mom kind of laughs at me sometimes because I'll, it's almost like, you know, when you see squirrel, right?
It's like I'll be like butterfly, you know, like cardinal. But it's like I'm just trying to find what are those little things. And I think especially. As Minnesotans, it's just gray and bleak for a while, and especially in this season of life and color and sunshine. I'm just really trying to soak it up and just what are those things?
Like I even put like a bird feeder outside of my office door so that when I'm on zooms all day, I can like look at that. And so I think that's the thing is that, we often don't have the space for these like giant big moments of joy. So instead it's like, what are the little tiny moments?
I turn on, I have the Calm app, and I turn on some, like calming music as I'm working and I have a little fountain in my office. It's just these little tiny things that I try to build up that [00:30:00] can really help me come from like way up here to at least down to here to help prevent a little bit instead of waiting until you know, it's a big burnout.
And so just trying to bring it down at least a notch with those little bits of joy I've noticed.
Megan: Definitely. So what I'm hearing is that with practice of doing very small things, creating small moments for yourself. You're building to this bigger capacity, bigger resilience so that you can get through the next surgery and the next whatever's happening. And of course, knowing big burnout might happen and you might not be able to prevent it, but you have this toolkit, you have this community, and you have these small daily practices that support you.
Allison: absolutely. Yep.
Megan: Hmm. Well, if there was one takeaway that our listeners could hold with them after hearing this, what would you hope that would be?
Allison: I would hope that your listeners after hearing my story and hearing me talk about my community, would start to start [00:31:00] seeing caregivers. Start recognizing like, oh, that person's a caregiver. Oh, that person's a caregiver. And just starting to be a little more curious and empathetic about what their experience might be and how it might be impacting that person as well as the person who is going through it.
So I, I hope that I've opened some eyes today to the caregiver experience.
Megan: Yeah, I think you need a bumper sticker. Start seeing
Allison: I some I have thought the same thing. Yes. I use that slide sometimes. Yes, exactly.
Megan: So good. Well, Allison, we're gonna share your website. The Negative Space dot life .Your podcast website sickness dot care, and people can follow you on Instagram at Neg Space Life or find you on Facebook at The Negative Space. So we're so excited to stay connected and have you be this resource for our supportive joint community.
And I just really appreciate your time
Allison: Absolutely. And if there's providers listening who want, you know, brochures about our [00:32:00] services or rack cards about the storyline there's a, they can just reach out to me on the website and I would be happy to deliver or send some over so that you can be handing these out as well.
Megan: Definitely, and I will just add a key point for anyone interested in supporting the negative space in general. You usually host at least an annual event where you have a gathering with the supporters and capacity to give back and hear what's new and collaborate and just be a part of this important work here in Minnesota.
So I would highly recommend just attending one of those events because it's hugely impactful.
Allison: Yeah, thank you. And I'll also just, we keep plugging things, but on November 1st in Minneapolis we're having a caregiver conference, so it's called Caregiver Con. And we had our first big one last year. It was a huge success and so if there's providers who are interested in, having a table or attending, but also just get the word out to caregivers.
It's a beautiful day. We have massage free massages and therapy dogs and free food and, it's just. It's beautifully, [00:33:00] beautifully done, and just a space for it to really hold and see caregivers. And so that's November 1st, and it's called, and you can find more at caregivercon dot com.
Megan: Great. We'll include that resource too. It makes me wanna take the whole day off work and come and join you.
Allison: It's a Saturday, so you can, there you go.
Perfect. Yes,
Megan: better.
Allison: yes. Yeah. Well, thank you, Megan for holding the space for us.
Megan: Thanks Alison. Take care.
Allison: Okay. Bye.
Megan: Balm in the Burnout is a listener supported podcast made possible by my work at Harvest Health and Wellbeing. If you'd like to support this project or contribute to a community scholarship, you can leave a tip on Venmo at HW -LLC. Thanks for listening and see what you can restore and alchemize today.