Burn Out!

I'm not immune to burn out. In fact I get both kinds of burn out. Here's an article that does a great job of describing and explaining one type of burn out. Don't get confused when they use two definitions to describe their type of burn out. I have another type of burn out I'll explain here soon.

Mind tools also has a great self test to find out if you might be suffering from Type 1 burnout. You'd think you'd know when your burnt out but you might be long before you realize it. Like a marriage, the magic can be gone before the arguments really set in.

Type 2 Burn Out is the kind we see from Sherlock Holmes. It's burned out on not having a challenge. The mind tools article above hints at this a bit when recommending ways to avoid burn out. Suggestion #1 and #4 seem to suggest that part of burning out is finding meaning in what you do or discovering what you're made of. These are great for treating both types of Burn Out.

I think there are several things that will treat either type of burn out. I call it seeking adventure. Let me paint a picture for you:

A man sits alone in a holding cell. His hair is disheveled, his clothes are torn and dirty, and there's a tissue in his nose to staunch the bleeding from a hit he took that day. He leans back to let light from a small window illuminate his face, but his blood shot eyes are out of tears.

How did he get there? What will happen next? You tell me. Will his pregnant wife come to bail him out? Will the real bank robber be caught, but only after he's broken out of prison by the other robbers wanting to know where he hid the loot? The real question is--what sort of story is this. If we view our burn out as part of a larger story, the story of our life, what are we living? A tragedy? A comedy? Is what you face now just an inciting incident to spin your life in a whole new direction?

I encourage everyone to frame their lives as an adventure. It can radically change how we view things like burn out.

Record Setting Film Maker

So...April 1st. I should pull a prank, but I have the opportunity to post a story I think sounds like an April fools joke. James Cameron, THE James Cameron has set the record for the deepest solo dive. I don't know why, but it sounds like I'm making it up, huh? James Cameron's name sounds like a made up name to me. A film maker named Cameron.

Anyway, it's true. Check out the news stories below. This is a good opportunity to talk about the film I love to hate, 8mm. That movie is one I'm glad I saw, I'll never watch again, and I wish I could recommend (sometimes I do). It is not a good date movie for you Christian boys and girls out there. It is, however, a perfect example of the real power in movies. As we watch the main character descend into the abyss of hard core pornography for the purpose of investigating a young girls murder we witness him becoming increasingly desensitized to the sex and violence around him. As we discover the fate of the girl we start to really want him to become the right hand of revenge.

Now in Hollywood no matter how evil our bad guy there are ways in which our good guy can end him without really becoming bad himself. They struggle over a gun, they struggle and the bad guy is knocked back striking his head or becoming impaled on a convenient sharp object, they struggle and the bad guy is pitched from a roof. My personal favorite is they struggle and the bad guy is pitched from the roof and lands on the convenient impaling object. If and only if the good guy is a police officer, then the good guy can just shoot the bad guy in self defense or to protect a hostage. But is rare when a film ends with the good guy just murdering the bad guy. Thanks to some brilliant acting on the part of the cast, lead by Nicolas Cage, and brilliant film making on the part of James Cameron we wouldn't care if the hero stabbed the villain in the back while he slept, we just want that bastard dead.

At it's core, 8mm is a movie that documents the descent of the human soul into depravity, and it take you, viewer with it. It inspires a sort of temporary insanity that when the film ends your heart back lashes against. Sort of like the first time you take a drink of booze after watching Leaving Las Vegas. The movie is ultimately redemptive but...

I know porn is in vogue right now, and I'll seem like an old conservative for saying I'm not a fan, but I've had a real life 8mm type experience. I took on a project a few years ago, ghost writing a book on how to protect kids from child molesters. It's an issue you'd think people are talking about, but you'd be surprised. Child molestation is extremely prevalent and there's very little research into understanding it. In fact most people have written it off as incurable and content themselves with the delusion that it's rare. I did 1100 hours of research for the book, and I can assure you that there is a connection between garden variety porn and child victimization. I had to shelve the project because I just couldn't do it anymore. All I found were more questions. No one seemed to have any answers, they just had this 8mm-like fantasy of taking out the villains.

Of course most molesters were molested themselves, and 80% of victims know and trust their abuser, 1 in 4 girls has been abused and 1 in 5 boys...and the statistics get worse from there. It's a topic that needs more attention and one day soon I'll finish that book. In the mean time, my hats off to James Cameron for his wild adventure to the depth of the ocean floor and for his insane but effective look into the depravities of the unredeemed human soul.

If you are or know someone who is struggling as a result of childhood molestation there are resources available. Here is one of the best. If you are a young person and need someone to talk to try contacting Dare to Live. The most important thing is that you keep telling until someone listens.

http://www.gizmag.com/cameron-deepest-solo-dive/21940/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=4483461352-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

http://www.nature.com/news/james-cameron-returns-from-the-deep-1.10332

ARGH! ATTN: After all that I realized that 8mm was directed by Joel Schumacher. April Fools after all, eh?