June/July 2024 - The Half Yearly Review
This month marks the “down-hill” run for the year, the point where we start to say things, “wow its only 5 months until Christmas”, and “this year is flying by”. So how is the Zen Curious Lawyer sitting halfway through the year of Zen.
Are we on the way to achieving Zen
It been said time and time before, we spend the majority of our younger years willing the years away only to reach our working years and wonder where the time goes. It is the passage of the last 6 months that has this Zen Curious Lawyer really considering what has been achieved.
The Initial Steps
The journey to Zen began strong for this lawyer; keener than ever to ensure that this year the hustle and bustle of modern life would not be my undoing.
Reading blogs, attending meditation sessions and engaging in purposeful practices opened the door to realm of wisdom and tranquillity. However my new found hobby had also added another task to my already exploding to do list, and it is a task which requires a conscious and persistent commitment.
Embracing the Journey
Perhaps the most significant area of personal growth in the last 6 months has been cultivating compassion for myself and, in turn, finding more empathy for others. This journey has encouraged me to reflect more deeply on the reasons why I embarked on it in the first place and how, in improving myself, I can assist others.
So where did our Zen journey take us in July
This Zen curious journey started on the back of being in full time work, often accompanied with full time study for more than 20 years and reaching a milestone of a decade in legal practice. Burn out was no longer a possible threat for future me to worry about, but a real life issue emerging in practice.
Years of positive reinforcement from work success had meant my life pie reflected more of the 1980s video game character Pac Man with my “work” pie eating all of the other colours that make up a full life.
So in the month of July this Zen Lawyer has worked on building the other pieces of pie to create a more colourful life.
I have reconnected with friends (helped by several milestone birthdays), I have spent time going to the cinema with my children (Inside Out 2 is a real tear jerker) and I have spent a lot of time with my family.
The Takeaway
Leave your laptop at work and go home on time. Watch a movie for the pure joy of it (highly recommend Despicable Me 4), take a walk with a friend and have a family dinner. Turns out life isn’t just about Yin and Yang, it is an absolute spectrum.
