Page 8 - September 2017 Voices

enthusiasm goes completely dark. see a debunking article until the day of the
11. Science clues you in to the significance event.)
of effects which you might otherwise An example for burnout: the commonly
have missed. We loved the way the leaves believed myth that you can’t burn out if you
created a “pinhole camera effect” on the love your job. People often firmly instruct
ground—beautiful! me this is true, as soon as I mention that I
Not so beautiful—the severe stress am the co-author of a book about burnout.
effects of burnout. We liken burnout to a In fact, being obsessively passionate about
repetitive use injury of the parts of the body your job may put you more at risk of
that deal with stress. burnout.
12. If you know enough about it, you can find 14. A lot more people are headed toward
some ingenious ways to deal with it. This burnout than you may realize. For good or
last photo shows my engineer husband, ill, if you’re getting burned out, you have
Chris, experimenting with creating an
“eclipse camera” using Kim’s shoe and a company on your journey. Since recon-
pad of notepaper. (It worked!) necting with your community is a powerful
An example of creative use of resources antidote to burnout, being able to discuss
to help with burnout recovery is based in burnout frankly and accurately may provide
knowledge of how the science on hazing considerable relief.
applies to burnout. A brain effect that is 15. At the moment of totality, you can see the
colors of sunrise on the horizon all around
you, if you remember to look. For burnout,
these are the glimmers of new possibility,
new directions, relief and recovery.
How much of this list applies to your
experience of burnout? Did you think of any
similarites that I missed?
A few hours after the eclipse was over, we
received a frantic text from one of our neigh-
bors. She had chosen to drive some distance
with her family, to be able to view it from the
zone of totality. “Can you walk our dog? We
are stuck in post-eclipse traffic. We’ve moved
less than a mile in the last hour!” We love our
Chris creating an “eclipse camera”
neighbors—and their dog, Kobe—so we were
more than happy to stroll out with our dogs,
very similar to the results of hazing can into the bright day.
keep you trapped doing unnecessary, If you want to learn more
burnout-causing activities. My co-author,
Marnie Loomis, used a superhero from a about burnout and how to
popular movie to help someone break out avoid it, please check out
of that trap. Save Yourself from Burnout: A
13. There’s a lot of bad information out there System to Get Your Life Back
about why burnout happens and what available through Amazon.
it means. It can be hard to sift the accu- com in October, 2017
rate information out from the nonsense. co-authored by Beth Genly
(One example for the eclipse: I saw a and Dr. Marnie Loomis, ND.
lot of panicked warning posts on social Beth Genly, ACB, ALB
media: “You must keep your pets indoors! joined Toastmasters in 2014. She is a member
Especially dogs! Old Faithful Fido will look of Toastmasters for Speaking Professionals, TV
up when you point, and he will go blind!!!” Toastmasters, and Feedbackers. She is serving as a
While I had my doubts about this, I didn’t club officer in all three of her clubs.

8 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 3 SEPTEMBER, 2017