Where the Heck Have I Been?

As a blogger, I’ve always prided myself on posting regularly; usually every three, four, or five weeks. Yet since my last “Perennially Speaking” post back in early October of 2018, life has interrupted this rhythm. What I mean is that my focus has had to fully pivot in a new and unexpected direction in my life that has required much of my attention. So much so that I haven’t had the time (until now) to sit and write for you, my valued “Perennially Speaking” reader, as well as for myself.

But life is like that.  We don’t always have the time or the bandwidth – or even the inspiration – to write about the life we are living, about what’s going on. That slice of life we wonder if we should blog about.

So what happened?

In a nutshell, I got a new job. As some of you may remember from a previous “Perennially Speaking” post (“For the Record: Notes From a Scribe, the Power of Saying No”), I have been an independent stenographic court reporter for over 22 years (if you have not yet read the August 20th post, it does lay a nice foundation for this one). It’s a role I’m proud of, but I have come to the realization that my industry has been in a very sad state for years. So much so that my August 20th post inspired me to expand, deepen, and direct its content to attorneys. Hence, that post gave birth to a perspective piece that I submitted for publication to the Los Angeles Daily Journal, the daily legal news publication for Southern California attorneys.

Sometimes writing has a way of waking you up; of bringing into clear view and focus a much bigger picture. Full disclosure, the piece started out as a rant; a venting of sorts. I was fed up, tired of working in an industry that was fraught with stagnancy, long-term flat pay with no possibility of increase, and gross inefficiency.

Sharing my Perspective Opened the Door to a New Job

But as I wrote, the piece took on a life of its own. My perspective sharpened, and my voice became stronger and clearer. After over 22 years of working with lawyers, I knew how to approach my audience. Though I wasn’t sure if the editors of the L.A. Daily Journal would find the piece compelling enough for its readership, I actually did not care. I simply wanted to write about what was going on in the independent court reporting industry to a more targeted audience. The audience of consumers of court reporting services – attorneys.

As it turns out, the piece was published. Entitled “For the Record:  Notes From a California Court Reporter,” it appeared on page 8 of the L.A. Daily Journal’s October 23rd, 2018 issue.

It took up half the newspaper page.

Its publication set off a chain of events and encounters that soon led to my new role in a young start-up company – StoryCloud – as their Director of Digital Reporting. While drawing on my years of experience in the reporting industry, StoryCloud is finally bringing deposition court reporting into the 21st century, employing today’s technology that did not exist in the days when stenography (keyed shorthand) was conceived back in the 1860s.

My Court Reporting Machine Gets Much Less Use in my New Job

Not 1960s… 1860s.

And – to put it very succinctly – my role therein is to bridge the old with the new. I am now collaborating, training, writing, developing, and thinking in a whole new way.

Change is constant. Change is all kinds of things.  Exciting, scary, challenging, welcome, stressful, interesting, dreaded, inevitable. Change is natural, gradual, engineered, and sudden. Change happens for better or worse.

But without change, there wouldn’t be life. There wouldn’t be growth. Without the pains of birth, there would be no baby to grow into a life – and to have a life – of its own. Whatever that “baby” happens to be. If breath did not constantly shift from inhale to exhale, exhale to inhale, there would be no breath.

I think I’ve made my point.

So as I embark on this new adventure, this new vision, shepherding something new, I am excited, scared, challenged, and a little stressed. And I am inspired, redeemed, hopeful.

And I am vindicated.

Wish me luck.

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6 thoughts on “Where the Heck Have I Been?

    1. Hi, Alice! Thank you so much for your kind words. I deeply appreciate them. Hope you’re doing great. Yes, the blog is fun to do for so many reasons, including connecting and reconnecting with friends and classmates, old and new. For myself, I’m finding the reunions to mean more as time goes on. I’m sure yours will be great. Cheers!!

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