I have occasion to reflect on the Great Change and wonder if it was really so great after all.
I've had a rough month. A rough, self-esteem crushing, cutting-you-off-at-the-knees kind of month. Which is more the pity, because there were actually some nice things that happened this month too. In fact, the month had started really well. I'd gotten a nice haircut and was feeling energized and empowered. Then, like a swallow that's just crashed into a plate glass window, all that changed as heaps of criticism ended up laid at my door. Not all at once, and not without nice things happening too, but enough so that all my energy and empowerment was eventually evaporated. Even my hair now looks stupid.
While the particulars of these post may pertain specifically to me, the purpose of writing it is not to have a private kvetch. I'm inclined to share because I think my situation may be endemic to the industry of law, and others may find themselves similarly situated. In the past when I've taken stock and written about aspects of the Great Change I know it has resonated with others. I'm glad people have found my writing inspiring to them; I can only hope I was right enough in my assertions to warrant it.
It does, however, regularly raise the hackles of those more risk-averse that I should be so candid in my posts, but surely they wouldn't want the alternative, a world where no one shared anything that's personal. This is what writers are for, to share bits of themselves so that others may discover they are not alone. Without people brave enough to share their lives publicly - think novels, memoirs, or newspaper columns, if the idea of blogs frightens you - everyone else would be islands adrift, never knowing how common their own experiences are since they would have nothing to connect them to. Writing exists to unite readers. I'm not saying that I deserve a parade for being willing to put myself out there, but my point is that excoriation is hardly an appropriate response either.
Besides, how else will the flaws of a situation be exposed if no one provides any examples? From where I'm standing the legal industry looks incredibly flawed, and someone needs to say so.