Are You "Quiet Cracking"?
Are you "Quiet Cracking"?
... I wondered to myself.
Have you heard of the new term "Quiet Cracking"?
It caught my eye in an article last week. It is similar to the concept of "Quiet Quitting', but is not as extreme as burnout. By definition, it is "a persistent feeling of workplace unhappiness that leads to disengagement, poor performance, and an increased desire to quit."
But that definition, as important as it is, isn't what came to mind when I first heard the term "Quiet Cracking".
I wonder if "Quiet Cracking" describes how many of us feel as we embrace both our humanity and the demands of this world.
So many of my clients and my friends are bringing up this challenge in our conversations this summer.
It often sounds like:
"How do I believe that my work matters when it feels like the world is crumbling and there is so much disconnect?"
"How can I motivate my team to continue to do more when we know no additional resources are coming?"
"Is it ok to have fun when others are hurting - and there's so much work to do?!"
"How can I protect my mental health when it feels like a barrage coming from every side (work, family, world)?"
"I love the work I do, and want to keep doing it, but don't have the same energy to follow things through or create new things."
Each one of those sounds like a crack.
Some are small cracks, just beginning to weaken the edges.
Some are large cracks, deeply severing the foundation.
Some cracks are slowly spreading, weakening other areas we haven't looked at yet.
And, all it takes is One.More.Thing. and that quiet cracking suddenly becomes a "POP" that breaks you.
The One. More. Thing. could be as simple as a poorly worded email, news you were dreading, or another breaking news headline. We never know what might turn that crack into a pop.
An Example of Kintsugi
Have you heard of Kintsugi? It is the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. I was mesmerized by some pieces of it in an art museum recently, and it immediately came to mind when I heard the "Quiet Cracking" language. One of the beliefs behind this art form is the understanding that the piece is ultimately more beautiful and resilient because of the cracks.
It would be easy for me to transition this into a motivational conversation about how strong and beautiful we will be on the other side of this (whatever "this" is for you). But I'm not going to do that.
The truth is, we are living in a time of quiet cracking,
far beyond what the definition is.
If we want to be ready to put the pieces back together,
we'd better be stockpiling our gold!
The "gold" we can stockpile might look like:
Drinks and laughter with friends on the deck
Juicy, fresh red tomatoes on a BLT
A slow morning
Journaling it out
Finding a sense of awe from the mountains or the beach while on vacation
Staying consistent with our physical fitness
Keeping appointments with our coach/therapist (or getting one!)
Breathing, breathing, breathing
These are the things that are easiest to let slide when the world is overwhelming. And, these are also the things that will help you have the strength and skills you need to repair when one of your cracks isn't so quiet anymore.
It's ok to have cracks. It doesn't mean you're broken, it means you're human.
It matters. You matter.
