Letting Go, Moving On

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:31:00 -0500
careers, law-school

18 years ago I took the California Bar Exam. My lungs still bear the scars.

For two and a half years, I practiced law at a Los Angeles firm. I learned a lot, including what I do not want to do with my life.

But even after I left, I kept paying my Bar dues every year. Walking away from membership in the California Bar would have meant giving up my license to practice. It would have meant that if I ever wanted, or needed, to work as a lawyer again, I would have had wait many months and take the bar exam again. There was no way I wanted to do that. Paying the $100+ annual dues (for members on "inactive status") seemed like a reasonable hedge, even in years when the $100 was awfully hard to come by.

The latest bill sits on the table in front of me. For another $125, I can extend my membership into 2011. It seems ridiculous, a relic from another life in another world. I'm an educator now. I think it's going to stick.

And so I'm going to keep that $125, and say goodbye to the California Bar.

When I told Sharon that's the direction I was leaning, she said, "I like that. Letting go, moving on." She never even met the lawyer me.

I like it too. I said, "Shall I make that the title of a blog post?" She laughed and said, "Sure!"