Ed. note: This post is by Jeena Cho, a Legal Mindfulness Strategist. She is the co-author of The Anxious Lawyer (affiliate link), a book written by lawyers for lawyers that makes mindfulness and meditation accessible and approachable. She is the creator of Mindful Pause, a self-paced online program for creating a more sustainable, peaceful, and productive law practice in just six minutes a day. Jeena offers actionable change strategies for reducing stress and anxiety while increasing productivity, joy, and satisfaction through mindfulness.
Before law school, I used to love writing — simply for the joy of it, as a means of self-expression. I started journaling when I was in elementary school and the journal was the doorway to my creativity. Not only did I write about the latest school gossip, the boy I had a crush on, or all the normal teenage angst, I also wrote poetry, short stories, and fiction.
Then I started law school and I stopped writing anything that wasn’t related to the law. My journal sat on the bookcase, empty for years. I also stopped reading for pleasure.
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It wasn’t that I didn’t want to write or read for pleasure, but rather it felt as though the ability to take delight in these activities had been zapped away. I had a longing to find my creativity, but the law simply took up whatever energy I had. After a grueling day at the office spent reading and writing, the last thing I had space for was to write or read for pleasure.
Then a few years ago, everything shifted.
Continue reading over at Jeena’s website…