Work, Gratitude, and the Challenge of the Present Moment

I’m late to my party, but April 1, 2020 marks twelve years since I quit my job as a lawyer to travel the world.

By now you guys know the drill: every year on April 1st I write an annual update post about my state of mind and the state of my business. I usually got together with friends to celebrate, wherever I was. He had a party with him in Saigon. Ban cha And rice vodka. In Oaxaca, it was mezcal and quesadillas.

That year, the date fell during the long trip back to Montreal from Florida. I was trying to move fast enough to get home safely, but slow enough to not aggravate my spinal CSF leak.

While I was technically on the road on April 1st, the date involved a little less celebration and a little more pandemonium than usual.

Since today is my 41st birthday, I thought I’d use this opportunity to do this annual write-up.

Here’s a post about what’s been happening, and what’s to come.

12 years of legal nomads

When I looked at legal gypsies, a sense of dissonance accompanied my growing acceptance of everyday reality. That person smiling on the bike on my front page is no longer me. Telling stories through food is no longer me. They are a part of me, of course, and I’m proud of whatever roads led me to them.

Still, I often open my dashboard and wonder, “What am I even doing? Is any of this even worth it?” Questions that many of us are asking these days, and ones that take on a sharper shape because the physical opportunity costs of working are too high for me.

I love to write, and my mind misses writing. Writing this post in the morning increment felt like coming home. My body, though, doesn’t like me writing that much. My leaking symptoms get worse when I do and while I’ve tried creative solutions like voice-to-text or transcription, they don’t scratch the writing itch. I love typing itself, the process of words pouring out of my brain and rearranging themselves into prose.

So I decided I’d do something a little more drastic.

Killing my darlings

To create a good piece of writing, you often need to first eliminate paragraphs or characters that you feel attached to even though they no longer fully contribute critically. You need to “kill your darlings” to make a piece that works better.

For me, killing my loved ones results not from decorative prose but from the physical limitations of my ability to function. Although my creative time is endless, actual creation takes the kind of physical overhead I no longer have. I’m dropping some projects in hopes that I’ll be able to create something interesting for my community.

I have the workbook half of the course written, and a complete outline of a product for lawyers looking to change careers.

With my limitations neither will be feasible in the next very long time. But the reason I wanted to make these products was because readers asked for them, and clearly needed them. So I’ve partnered with people I trust to heal those pain points because I can’t.

How to Tell Better Stories in the Digital World: My Storytelling Course

I plan to do a storytelling course, and I have a half-finished workbook and many readers signed up. I’ve tried to think of ways I could do this project while I was leaking, because I love At this point in time to tell the story, I don’t think it’s possible to do it without eating into all of your uptime.

So I have partnered with two people I trust to offer two different courses. Which one might be best for you depends on your needs.

Storytelling course with Lola Akinmade Åkerström

How can we create and share these stories with others that can create empathy and connection with others? How can we carefully fulfill our responsibility to tell other people’s stories? How do you hook, engage, intrigue, and hold your readers until your closing message? How can you find threads and narrative arcs to structure your story?

These are all questions that Lola answers in her comprehensive course on storytelling.

The course is self-paced, and includes lectures, video modules, and lots of case studies and examples to illustrate the lessons Lola teaches. Lola just started this course, and I contacted her to see if I could refer my readers to it because it’s a great alternative.

Lola has offered Legal Nomads readers a $50 discount if you tell her that’s where you came from for the course.

Blogging Course with Mike Sodden

I’ve also referred some of you to my friend Mike*, who has a course called Engage! Storytelling course for bloggers. Many readers are not bloggers and thus want a more technical story instruction, which Lola can provide. For those who are new to the blogging world, and/or don’t have the budget for a large course, Mike’s course is a great option.

His course consists of 8 weeks, aimed at teaching bloggers how to become a better storyteller. It includes email lessons, audio lessons, PDF guides (including my favorite, “How to Edit the S#!t Out of Your Writing”), and 1:1 support from Mike.

He’s offering a $15 discount for Legal Gypsy readers: enter code DONKEYBALLS 2020 or use this link to shop.

*Mike also kindly edited this post, and many others, for me. Mike is a good set of eyes for your mind.

Leaving the Law behind with Casey Berman and Adam Ouellette

My Thrillable Hours series exists to encourage lawyers who feel deadlocked by their job options to find the courage to think more broadly. I made it for fear, career change, and life after law support. Although I had also planned to create a course to help lawyers make the jump, I didn’t end up doing it.

Casey and Adam have, and so I’m partnering with them to fix some of my readers’ pain points. They will help lawyers through the process of leaving the law, if that’s what they want, and help them overcome the limiting beliefs and self-sabotage that can get in the way. They also provide interview and resume assistance to their students, as well as helping attorneys determine which alternative careers are best for them.

Basically, if I can’t help you, I think Adam and Cassie can outrun the law.

The plan is to hopefully record a video interview with him for Legal Gypsy readers as well.

“Ask a Jodi” Podcast

A few years ago, I bought the domain Ask a Jodi and thought I’d make videos answering readers’ questions about life and everything beyond. It was actually me sitting on the floor digging the tripod out of my drawer that led me to reopen the leak in 2018.

I shelved the video idea because it was unworkable, and with the physical stress this year’s covid-19 posts put on me, I decided that writing needed to take second place to something else.

I have long said that if no one reads, I will write. But unfortunately, like I said, my body and writing don’t go together either. So a short (10-15 minute) podcast is where I landed, specifically to answer the many questions I receive from readers about resilience, grief, hope, and more.

It will take time for me to get off the ground, as I have learned. everything It takes longer when you are sick. I look forward to sharing it, when it’s ready.

If you have a question for me that you’d like me to address in a podcast episode, I’ve created a Google Form here so you can send it your way.

Redesigning legal nomads

The site started on Blogger and moved to WordPress in 2010. It has undergone many redesigns since 2008.

It’s been a few years, and this time the redesign will streamline the existing categories into a few key categories, and link to the courses and resources I’ve listed above. I also want to brighten up the colors and update the photos and ‘about’ page to reflect the changes I’ve gone through over the years.

I would also change my motto from “telling stories through food” to “curious about everything.” The new slogan better reflects who I am, even though it’s always been who I am.

Audio recording for accessibility

Some of my readers who have CSF leaks (spinal or cranial) or who are chronically ill have asked if it would be possible to record posts in audio form, especially about meditation and my leak journey. My goal is to record podcasts before I start them, warming up the audio for beginners but also making the content easier to access for those with reading difficulties.

Newsletter is back up and running.

Links I Liked was a newsletter I started sharing interesting links I read, including links I shared on Twitter. I have disabled the newsletter for the past year and a half because my pain levels fluctuate so much that I felt I couldn’t commit to putting it out every month as promised.

With the redesign and the podcast, I’m starting it all over again. It will have some great reads as well as general updates from my work, and podcast planning, and more. You can sign up. Here.

Supporting legal migrants

This is the question I get from you the most: “How can I help you?”

I feel incredibly blessed to have an incredible, caring community. I say this often, and will continue to say it. Even during these amazing times when almost everyone’s reality has been distorted, you still reach out to make sure I’m okay.

Like last year, the easiest is through support. Amazon Gift Card at jodi-at-legalnomads.com, where I find some hard-to-find items that aren’t available at the grocery store. With COVID-19, my neighbors/family/friends have helped with groceries, and ordering from Amazon means people don’t have to hunt down tiger nut flour.

I also have a Patreon, which I started at your request! I love the close-knit community there.

Honestly, there is nothing else at the moment! Support the podcast when it launches, and share my work if it resonates. The day-to-day care I need is paramount, and thankfully I have family (and now neighbors and friends!) to help with grocery runs during the pandemic, and to take socially distanced trips during the heat.

***

My friend Cheryl, whom I feature here, says her life mantra is the LSAT. That she’s a former lawyer makes it funny, because this isn’t the LSAT of our nightmares. Her LSAT stands for Love, Surrender, Acceptance, and Trust.

It is very difficult to embody fear and anger and hatred.

Easier said than done.

And yet, a worthwhile use of mental time and energy.

Every moment you are not in a state of surrender, you are in a state of lack.

This is what gets me through every day.

Well, that and soup.

– pair