(This post is part of a series of daily letters from me to my future children reporting from the emerging paradigm.)
Dear Kids:
I’ve been meeting a lot of lawyers lately at networking events. It’s rad, actually, because I used to be an attorney so it gives me a great connection point to talk about why I’m no longer a lawyer.
Today I had only 5 minutes in a Tokeativity Haus of Jane speed networking to get to know this woman, and our time was going to run out so I was very blunt.
“I’m not a practicing attorney anymore because lawyers have four times the national rate of suicide.”
It’s the truth. The more I work hard on my routines and grounding my mental health in my self care, I realize how unlikely it was for me to survive the rest of my life as a lawyer.
I also like to be transparent about making mental health and self care a priority.
Her response was priceless, “Yeah, none of my friends who are practicing are happy.”
I am so grateful that I took the leap to leave an entire career behind and figure out what I was actually here to bring to the earth. Turns out it’s Fat Kid Dance Party aerobics.
I remembered when George Floyd was murdered that my experience in criminal procedure class in law school showed me that I didn’t want to be an attorney. I had realized we were just playing chess with people’s lives and liberty as lawyers. It was gross.
But I was already halfway done with law school and I didn’t know how I’d pay off that $65,000 so I stayed in law school. I still carry $120,000 of school debt and I practiced law for almost 15 years.
I hope you never allow a scarcity mindset to dictate your life decisions. I believe you honor your commitments, but you also need to know when to change course.
xoxo.
Mom
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