You’re a shining star,
no matter who you are,
Shining bright to see,
what you can truly be.
Shining star for you
to see, what your life can truly be.*
Three years ago, I
was on a cruise ship headed to the Bahamas with my beautiful wife and soulmate – who happen
to be the same person. We had a
marvelous vacation, and on our return to Pittsburgh, I had just three more days
to clean out my office before I walked into the first stage of what we call
“retirement.” At the time I told anyone
that would listen that though I was retiring from my employer, I was actually
just changing jobs. After 31 years as an
attorney, I would now begin a career as a self-employed writer.
Over the past three years, I have written a fair
amount. I started this blog, which now
has 37 posts. I’ve written countless journal
pages describing my thoughts, activities and emotions. I have gotten several articles published in
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and I’ve written a featured article each
month for our church’s newsletter. As an
ongoing project I have transcribed and edited over 30 years of journal entries
describing our family vacations, which I hope will provide treasured memories
for my children. And I have written a
number of essays and short stories some of which I will seek to get published
in one manner or another. During this
same period, I have become an active volunteer, serving on two boards, working
in various capacities at my church and participating in literacy and education
programs at two elementary schools.
Despite the fact that
I have kept myself extremely busy with my second career, I hedged my bets and
remained on “active” status as a registered Pennsylvania lawyer. I figured it was part of my financial safety
net in case the writing didn’t work out.
Alternatively, I considered that it would allow me to practice pro
bono if there was a cause I really wanted to support. So each year I dutifully paid my $200 attorney
registration fee and my local bar association dues and sat through 12 hours of
Continuing Legal Education courses.
Beyond giving me additional second career options, remaining “active”
let me maintain my identity as a lawyer.
“I may not be practicing law at the present time,” I told myself, “but I’m
still a lawyer.” In some ways, I was not
ready to give up the “shining star” status of being an attorney.
But this year
something told me that it’s time to give it up.
“If you’re going to be a writer, that’s where you should be putting your
time and money,” I said to myself. “Take
the time and money you’d spend on registration, dues and CLE and spend it on a
writing course or conference that might help you learn something about writing
or help you get something published.”
Yesterday I attended a reunion with many of the clients I
served during my career as an environmental lawyer. Chatting with these dedicated professionals,
some retired and some still working, satisfied me that I had had a legal career
that I could be proud of. But that
career is in the past, and it is time to take the stage for the second act of
my life’s work.
So I reviewed the annual
attorney registration form that I recently received in the mail and checked the
box to indicate my “retired” attorney status.
Today I will put that form in the mail.
Then I will see if I can truly be a shining star as a writer and as a
volunteer.
* Shining Star, written by Maurice White, Larry Dunn
and Philip Bailey and performed by Earth, Wind and Fire
