Why blogging by lawyers still matters
UK management consultant and author, Euan Semple (@euan), shared the below in a recent post on why blogging still matters.
Most of what we inherit is so clearly correct it goes unseen. It fits the world seamlessly. It is the world. But despite its richness and variability, the well-defined world we inherit doesn’t quite fit each one of us, individually. Most of us spend most of our time in other people’s worlds — working at predetermined jobs, relaxing to pre-packaged entertainment — and no matter how benign this ready-made world may be, there will always be times when something is missing or doesn’t quite ring true.
And so you make your place in the world by making part of it — by contributing some new part to the set. And surely one of the more astonishing rewards of artmaking comes when people make time to visit the world you have created. Some, indeed, may even purchase a piece of your world to carry back and adopt as their own. Each new piece of your art enlarges our reality. The world is not yet done.
It’s from the book Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland.
The excerpt applies well to lawyers and why many lawyers blog.
Many lawyers do indeed spend their time in other people’s worlds. Perhaps being in a large firm and feeling things are out of control or in meeting the needs of a less than desirable client.
All too many lawyers after chasing a law degree and slugging it out in the workplace for 6 or 7 years feel something is missing or doesn’t quite ring true. After all, lawyers have the highest incidence of depression of any profession.
Blogging in area in which you have a passion, no matter how dialed in the niche, gives you the feeling you are making your place in the world. There was no equine law blog before yours. Or one on food safety, Canadian mining law, Texas state and local tax law, or cruise law.
We’re astonished as lawyers when people come to visit and take some part of our blog with them. People even call to hire us in areas we’re passionate about.
Wow. What a reward. Contribute passionately to the world — even in a small way — and get hired at the same.
That’s why we grew up to be lawyers and why blogging by lawyers still matters.