When Public Health Breaks You: Light a Candle

Public Health Held Its Breath in November 2024

Who will be the next president?
What policies or executive orders will they create?
How will it impact us?

We—the people who have been saving lives for over 100 years—held our breath.
Then the announcement came.

I won’t say his name. I never do. I just say “the new administration” because… we all know who he is.

Back to policies.

In the first few weeks, we saw what happened.
Executive orders ending this, banning that, eliminating this, removing that.
Now a massive budget cut looms.
Given recent events, we know we are in uncertain—but also new—times. Everything feels new now.

Public health professionals have been laid off, terminated, and blacklisted.
Still, we fight.
We advocate, we speak up, and we try to do what is right.

But let me ask you, public health professional…

Are you tired?

If you’ve been in this field for 5+ years, then you’ve survived the COVID-19 pandemic.
You’ve weathered the start of the anti-science, anti-government, and misinformation era.

Are you burned out from the pandemic?
What about that, plus the new administration and the dismantling of everything we’ve worked for?

You should be tired.
You should be nervous, uneasy, and worried.
And you know what? That’s normal.

So here’s my ask: Do something that has nothing to do with public health.
Pick up a hobby or side gig.
Start something that brings you peace and makes you happy.

I work in the policy space.
There’s so much new information, constantly.
I also own I am Health Education—the goal is to grow it and eventually offer CEUs.
I teach public health courses to future professionals at the university level.
I have another health policy project in the works.

I. Am. Burned. Out.

So I started making candles.

It’s simple. The results are immediate.
And it’s pretty.
All the things public health is not.

Public health is complicated.
It involves so many factors, stakeholders, and steps.
Impact can take months—if you’re lucky—but usually, it takes years.
Public health isn’t pretty—we expose uncomfortable truths about behavior, systems, and data.

So I started a business selling candles.

And it feels good to not think about what’s going on in the public health field—even for just a few hours.

This is part of my self-care.

Take care of you.
Do the things that bring you joy.
You deserve it.