My Story Part 96 – Burn Out

I have been active for around ten years and I am starting to get a little frazzled around the edges. A friend told me when I first started getting active that we burn out our leaders and it is true. Another good friend and activist is stepping back to regroup out of the limelight. I know how this person feels because at times I feel that way sometimes. I still want to be active, but I want to choose my battles. And I have to find where that niche where I can fulfill my desire to help others in their journey. One of the options I am looking at is to teach at a graduate level, I created a 15 week class on “Working with Gender Varient Clients” for an Independent Studies class that I want see if I can use.

Dallas Denny wrote back in 1999, “We Eat Our Leaders”

In the transgender community, we eat our leaders. I know this because I was nearly consumed myself.
What do I mean, we eat our leaders? I am saying that the leaders of the transgender community, whether hired, elected, or self-appointed, tend to give so much of themselves and get so little in return that they eventually have nothing left-- no vitality, no patience, no partners, no money, no careers, no futures.

When I first came out of the closet back in 2000, I almost immediately started getting involved in the community. I sat in on the Board meetings of the Connecticut Outreach Society (COS). They use to hold monthly Board meeting and I use to come to the meetings because one, it was another change to go out dressed as Diana and two, because I wanted to help. Eventually, I became its Executive Director a for a couple of years. Ever since then, I have been involved in the community and I am getting tired and I said I had to think of where I want to put my energies.

Sometimes it feels like I am tilting windmills…