Making The Jump Plans Tentative Recovery
Sometimes, life can throw some unexpected twists at us that change our plans. For me, it’s a year (well, over a year now) of big changes in my life that have caused me to rethink my life’s goals and direction. Actually, if I really think about it, its been four years of big changes in my life:
- a divorce,
- 2 moves,
- graduating from law school and beginning my career, first as a law clerk, and then private practice,
- rethinking my career direction and deciding to jump back into working in the child welfare system (a big reason I went to law school in the first place);
- taking a nontraditional part-time job with the Department of Social Services coordinating an advisory board that reviews cases and recommends policy changes and developing some projects related to that board;
- getting remarried last August; and now
- having my first child, due August 12th.
So for awhile now, I’ve been making significant “jumps” that have changed most of the major parts of my life. While some of these changes have been stressful, and some of these changes are still somewhat stressful, overall my life is moving in the direction that I want it to go (although sometimes not fast enough for my liking).
When I started Making the Jump back in December, I contemplated creating a narrowly focused website for lawyers contemplating a career change out of the legal profession. But frankly, I wasn’t having any fun with it. So I stopped writing — and the longer I went without writing, the harder it became to pick it up again, mostly because I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t know what I really wanted to do with this blog.
After spending a few months thinking, my tentative recovery plan for Making the Jump is to expand it a bit to focus more on all of the interesting jumps, turns and unexpected twists involved in the journey of life. I plan to still include items that are relevant to career choices for lawyers, but I also plan to include other things that I have found highly relevant to the career and life change choices that I’ve made - things like personal finance, learning to be frugal, finding better work/life balance, maintaining a relationship with my spouse, and finding purpose and meaning to why I’m here on this big planet. I suspect I’ll also add stuff as time goes on about the next big “jump” in my life — becoming a parent.
I hope you’ll stick with me as I begin this “blog recovery” project.
Lawyers and Career Change: How I Hope to Help Through This Blog
When I began the slow process of career change about a year ago, I didn’t think that I had anything useful to say to lawyers contemplating career change. For the most part, I felt disillusioned, frustrated and alone. Some days, I still feel that way, especially since I have not completely identified my next steps. But, after a year of significant change in my life, including a new marriage and a new transitional job, I hope that my personal experiences will help me to produce content that will both help and inspire other lawyers who are contemplating or in the midst of a career change.
There are numerous resources out there for lawyers frustrated with their current career paths. Indeed, it sometimes seems like an entire industry of career coaches, counselors, and career-focused authors exist to help lawyers exit the practice of law. I hold no expectation for adding myself to their ranks, at least professionally. Instead, I hope to simply add to the conversation regarding the other career opportunities available to lawyers, and to meet other lawyers who have traveled the path I am now taking. Along the way, I hope to discover and clarify my own path and to gain confidence in my choices.