For a talk I'm giving, I've broken our career into rough phases that resemble the advance and retreat of a wave on a beach: In the beginning: We're all enthusiam, virtually no knowledge The rising wave: We begin to know more, including the fact that there's still more to know The peak: We begin to think we know most of what matters, and generally feel pretty comfortable with our skills Sliding back: the beginnings of burnout, a growing interest in the Bigger Picture, conferences are no longer like exciting candy shops Boosting the next wave: We speak, or write, or encourage, perhaps instead of working directly w/ mothers Retiring: We go to work thinking about the Caribbean, or maybe about Antarctica where there are no nursing mothers Death: the legacy we leave I'm wondering if any of these phases resonate with any of you, to the point where you have thoughts to share. For instance, in the beginning when I was first asked to consider LLL Leadership, I replied that we were moving, but that I'd consider it if the area to which we were moving wasn't already well-covered... as if any area ever has enough breastfeeding help. Or as a "rising wave," I bought books because I was convinced every question I was asked had an answer somewhere, if I just knew where to look. Or in the "sliding back" phase, I bought a Liberty Bell pencil sharpener at a conference, to remind me to free up my personal life more than I'd been doing. (It still sits on my desk, though to some extent it just serves as one more finger shaking at me.) I know these phases overlap, and maybe you feel I have them wrong. I'm happy to hear anything anyone has to share. Should your thoughts be posted to lactnet, or e-mailed to me privately? I think they'd be fun for all of us to hear. Use your judgment... Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC Ithaca, NY www.wiessinger.baka.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html