We made it to May, fellow bean counters! Yet another tax season has come to a close. I hope yours treated you well… Or at very least, with busy season meals that showed up on time and coffee that stayed hot and strong.
If you’re new here, hello and welcome! My husband and I are (were) both Canadian public accountants, so May 1st has always been a bit of a holiday in our household.
Except I stepped away from my accounting career last year, meaning this was my first true tax season spent on the sidelines (maternity leaves aside) in over a decade.
As you might guess, May 1st feels quite different for me this year. I’m still celebrating though, because in addition to my husband’s return to regular life, today marks the end of a sort of creative gestational period — 9 months since I left public accounting to explore my creative identity.
Much like growing a human, growing as a human is a wonderful, joyful thing — but it’s not without its challenges!
You’d think escaping the grind would bring immediate relief and an entirely new way of existing, but that’s not always the case — it certainly was not for me. It took about four months to shake the nagging feeling that there was an Outlook email or a Teams message waiting in the bushes for me, and the whole nine months to really feel planted in a new role and creative identity.
Since May 1st is usually the start of a major burnout recovery period, today I’m reflecting on the interesting aspects of burnout that unexpectedly followed me out of the profession and into my creative life.
Celebrate past May 1sts with me:
There’s no “easy fix” to burnout
“If only I could quit” – burned out employees everywhere.
Well, I did quit, and I can tell you with confidence that it’s not always so simple.
I’ve discovered that departing from a demanding environment does not automatically eliminate the habits and mindsets that helped you survive and thrive there.
We tend to think burnout is the result of grind culture and ambitious environments, but that’s only one part of the equation. The other parts have a lot to do with our temperaments and our inherent belief systems.
It’s often a combination of the two — the beliefs that we don’t even know we have — that drives our habits, our pace of life, and the pressure we place on ourselves to perform: as parents, creators, and societal members at large.
We all have a personal burnout recipe: The Busy Season Survival Guide: Part 1 – Breaking Down Burnout
I actually heard Adam Savage (maker and former co-host of MythBusters) speak to this recently: even when the structure disappears, the internal pace doesn’t. You actually have to learn how to gear down.
Are we there yet?
Not quite — we’re mid-journey, having closed out one story but not fully settled in the next.
If the last 9 months were my creative gestational period, then today marks a transition into the fourth trimester — the part where the new story is ready, but the habits, sense of identity, and nervous system are still catching up.
It’s been a while since I wrote about burnout or work-life balance — a good sign. But what I’ve learned from navigating them still feeds my creative practice.
In fact, from within this liminal space, the writer in me is inclined to flesh out the rest of the Busy Season Survival Guide (“BSSG”) before the visceral experience becomes a mere memory — the closing of an old story. But oh how the creative calling continues to pull me away from that life.
I will circle back at some point, because I do have a bit more to say on work, life, and balance.
But on this particular May 1st, it feels fitting to simply acknowledge the annual milestone and accept the sense of unfolding.
Reconciling the practical and the magical
Today is a happy May 1st indeed, and this time, I’m using it to honour my time in public practice, rather than recover from it.
It supported me financially while I dreamed in the background.
It helped this divergent thinker learn to develop lines of logic.
It built fortitude, resilience, and a strong work ethic.
It gave me the experience of being the professional oddball — the one pushing soft skills from inside a not-so-soft profession.
It led me to discover my passion for embracing our innate humanity and honouring it rather than hiding it.
It drove me back to my creative hobbies in the pursuit of balance, but with a whole new perspective and confidence that I may not have earned in another life. (The life in which I had gone for that degree in English Literature, perhaps.)
And this is yet another reason why I like to write about creativity: not just for its own sake, but as a mediator between yourself and the important work you do — even if it sometimes burns you out.
Parting words
Rest well, accountants!
And when that little voice inside starts wondering if there’s more to life that you’re missing… When you start to wonder, who am I outside of this… When you start to yearn for a slower, more soulful place… You are most welcome to return to this space.
In this space, we embrace our creativity as a way back to ourselves.
Where to next, creative soul?
Lessons from a decade of busy seasons → The Busy Season Survival Guide: Start Here!
If magic and whimsy are your thing → Return to Your Creative Self (A Whimsical Email Journey)
