sab•bat•i•cal
n. Nina’s extended time away from work to pursue professional and academic
growth, to learn and develop new skills, and to rest and recuperate.
Does work spark the same joy as when I began my law firm?
Should I stay on the same path or take the road less traveled?
Am I free to explore what‘s next while tethered to what’s now?
A New Chapter
Why would a lifelong New Yorker and award-winning business attorney move to a state she had never seen and walk away from a successful 25-year entrepreneurial career?
Because Life had hoisted my anchors.
Like family. Illness and Death took my father and mother. Quality of life. COVID stole New York City’s positive creative energy. Community. Computer screens replaced true human connection. Safety. Disagreement morphed into baseless hatred. One block from my home, people rioted in the name of “peaceful protest.” Health. I ate to soothe stress and anxiety. Cooped up inside, I gained over 20 pounds.
The things and experiences I used to count on were no longer there.
I was adrift. But also free to view life and work differently than I ever had.
Although my business ambled along, the thought nagged at me: “Is this all there is?”
I decided, there had to be more.
I had to ask myself tough questions – and act on the answers instead of sweeping them under the rug.
Then, like Anais Nin wrote, the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
This transformation has not been easy. (And it’s far from complete).
It’s time to forge a new identity
I had to let go of the life I had planned. To stop chasing status and validation. To reframe my definition of success.
To decide: if I’m not a practicing attorney, who am I?
For now, I am an EXPLORER, sailing into the unknown of “what’s next for Nina?” Fiercely defending my right NOT to commit to outcomes or decisions about where the path *should* go.
Join me on the journey!