Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Darren Chittick. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Darren, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?
First, I don’t like the word burnout. That language makes it seem like, if I’m burned out, I must be doing something wrong; I must need to change to get out of it. Burnout is often a symptom of being taken for granted and even exploited by our employers and beyond. Realizing that I was feeling burned out because I was being overworked was a huge step for me.
I was also depressed, and I didn’t realize it for a long time. I suspect this is the case for many people, and it was still a surprise to me, because I work with so many folks experiencing depression, and I’ve become good at recognizing it in others. Recognizing it in myself was incredibly difficult.
Part of that difficulty was simply realizing that what I was calling burnout was being exacerbated by depression. Likewise, my depression was being deepened by the experience of burnout.
The first step, for me, was to reach out to my doctor and figure out a medication that would lift the pressure of the depression. When that medication took effect, my ability to navigate difficult situations, my intuition, and joy re-emerged in my life and within my body. I could see past what I was experiencing to the cause behind it.
Clarity allowed me to make informed choices, and those choices allowed me to come back to life.
Coming back to life, I began to wonder “What am I giving the most energy to that is having the least positive impact on my life?” The answer was this: I was spending a ridiculous amount of energy thinking about what people might be thinking about me and my work. I’d whittled myself down to a vanilla, palatable person who was constantly working to not offend, lest people turn away from what I was attempting to do.
I let that go. I’m still very interested in what people are actually thinking, and I will hear them with however many grains of salt are warranted for who they are in my life. This is a necessary part of leadership and being in community. What I don’t do is make decisions based on what I’m imagining someone *might* think. I’ve freed myself up to take risks, experiment, and be fully myself. It’s incredible, really, to see who I am when I am willing to just be myself. That has fought back against burnout. It has allowed me to be more alive in the world.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Curiosity-led engagement. That is my natural, personal brand. That innate drive greatly informs my professional work and the spaces I occupy in community.
I worked my way out of burnout by working my way into the work I’d been dreaming about for a long time.
I was asked in a workshop by Jessica Weiner, “Who did you think you’d be at this point in your life before you chose something different?” I immediately knew my answer. I thought I’d be a massage therapist, and I thought I’d be weirder.
“Weirder” is a tough word to quantify in short space, but suffice to say, I thought I’d be living a life where risks has paid off and I was doing what I’d dreamed, regardless how odd it seemed to others.
In response to that provocative point of inquiry from Jess, I enrolled in massage school. I’ve graduated, gotten licensed, and I’m now in professional practice. I also launched my international retreat offerings. I led two groups of folks on retreat in the autumn of 2023 through Oaxaca, Mexico.
One group was focused on rest and rejuvenation; the other group was for makers and creatives. The latter group moved around on foot as a provocation to engagement, spent plenty of time in hands-on making experiences, and had multiple invitations to reflect on their experiences. Both groups described their experiences as “more than immersive.” Relationship is the foundation of this work, and I’ve built strong connections with people in Oaxaca who were incredible in inviting my groups into a transformational understanding of the people and spirit of the place we inhabited together.
I’m now focusing on some local programming through a grant I was awarded for Creative Placemaking. I’ll be engaging communities in weaving and dialog around what it means to be part of a community. How are we woven together as neighbors? How might we be more intentional about being with those who are near us? How can weaving and creating together empower us to consider this more deeply and to act?
And, of course, I’m looking forward to another visit or three to Oaxaca in 2024!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The most important qualities I bring to everything I do is deep, authentic curiosity, honesty, and the belief that we’re all doing our best.
My curiosity unfolds in a lot of ways. I want to know about people. I want to know what they are up to. I am curious about processes and products. I am intentional in noticing; I want to see what other miss. I am so intrigued by what’s around me, and this has allowed me to become part of goings on that others miss out on.
I have also found it imperative to be honest and accountable. I’ve worked as a professional American Sign Language interpreter in the past, and it was imperative I was able and willing to stop what was going on when I’d made a mistake, explain the mistake, and bring clarity to the situation I was interpreting. I have found that ability and willingness so very useful in other situations. If I screw up, I say so. If I don’t understand, I am clear that I don’t understand. If I don’t know what a word means or what an organization is, I ask. Why? Because I want people to trust that I know what I say I know, and the best way to know is to be clear when we don’t know and to be clear when we’ve made an error.
When working with others, I find it useful to remind myself they are doing the best they can in the moment. This doesn’t always mean I have to continue engaging them. It simply means I don’t walk away from bad interactions thinking a person is bad or pretending I was a victim to their ill will. Sometimes people just can’t do what they intend to do, myself included. Life is a lot better when we let others off the hook, even if it means disengaging, instead of pretending we’ve never fallen short of our own goals. When we remember how much we are all alike, we can be easier on ourselves and others. It’s a better way to live.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I’ve spent the last two years in new exploration, skills gathering, and collection building. Life can’t be only additive. I’m now challenged by the number of directions my passion is leading, and I’m aware I need to prune some areas of my life so that others can flourish. This is hard for me, because I’m pretty excited about everything I’m up to. Finding and maintaining some balance is always a challenge for driven people, and I’m glad to be aware of it in myself.
I’m currently leveraging software to minimize the amount of time I have to give to things that drain me, like scheduling. All of my business can be booked online, and each separate entity checks itself against one calendar so that I’m never double-booked. This took a little lead time, but it saves so much time and energy every day. Using technology to automate what we really don’t need to give our time to is a powerful choice.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dchitt.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/dchitt
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/darren.chittick
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/darren-chittick-40684a62/
Image Credits
Darren Chittick
