There is a tiredness that has nothing to do with age and everything to do with repetition.
It builds quietly over years of early mornings, packed commutes, long shifts under artificial light, and the unspoken pressure to keep going because stopping is not an option. For many in the Caribbean diaspora—particularly those who built their working lives in England—this rhythm is not temporary. It becomes the shape of life itself.
You leave home before sunrise. You navigate crowded stations, delayed trains, and airless platforms. You work under constant deadlines. You eat quickly. You return home late. And somewhere in that cycle, time moves faster than you expect.
Decades can pass like this.
At first, the sacrifice feels justified. The plan is simple: work hard now, enjoy life later. But later is more fragile than most people realise. Health slows quietly. Energy fades unevenly. And the system that relied so heavily on your productivity offers very little once that productivity declines.
This i…
