The Subtle Art of Letting It Out, and Why Screaming Into the Void Isn’t as Crazy as it Sounds
As I sit here typing this, in my home office, during what feels like my 4,000th day working from home, I find myself again hitting a wall. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m one of the lucky ones. More often than not throughout this past year, the overwhelming feeling I have is one of gratitude. During this pandemic I’ve maintained an uninterrupted income and my family and I are healthy and COVID-free. What reason do I have to feel stressed or to complain? Do I even have a right compared to what others are going through right now?
I know all this and yet, I still find myself hitting a wall. And I know I’m not alone. Ignoring what I’m feeling or shoving it aside because I should feel grateful only intensifies my frustration.
I’m sick of talking about the pandemic. I’m sick of worrying about my friends and family. I’m sick of waking up everyday and putting on the same sweatpants that no one will ever see. I feel like there are aspects of what makes me, me, that are slowly slipping away as I continue to live this groundhog-day of an existence. Feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and frustration continue to well up inside of me and some days I truly feel like I’m going to burst. And guess what? Some days I do, but in a good way that actually helps me, and I would love to offer that solution to you.
When I hit a wall, I scream. I literally scream, I stand up and scream in an attempt to shake off any frustration or anger I am feeling at that moment in time. This is (sometimes) at the expense of my family, especially as we all share a space these days. If I can quote my daughter, I “scare the *bejeesus* out of her” whenever I do this (she may have used more colourful language than that, but you get my point). This act of just letting it all out in an unfiltered, uninterrupted way is a strategy I’ve been using to cope since long before the pandemic began, but I find myself using it more within the past year. I love this simple but effective way of just letting go. I let go of all the societal expectations of a successful and restrained professional and you know what, it works. I always feel better.
After having a conversation with the LiL team we came up with an idea; why not offer this to our community? If I’m feeling this way, I am sure other women in law are feeling this way and what if we gave them a place to let it all out? This is why I am so pleased to announce the launch of the LiL Roar Line today. What is it exactly? It is private voicemail, where your number is never seen or stored, nor will anyone ever return your call. The voicemail is meant to be a place where you can scream, cry, tell us you might leave your husband if he leaves his dirty dish on the counter one more time. This is a place for you to express what you’re feeling in that exact moment with no ramifications and no judgment.
Do I think that this strategy will work for everyone? Absolutely not, I don’t expect it to. But the more I continue to grow this initiative alongside my team, the more inspired I am hearing about the various strategies, tips and tricks other women employ to tackle common problems we all face in law. None of them are particularly earth-shattering or genius, but they offer a different perspective and way of looking at things that I never would have thought of and that’s one of my favourite things about LiL. That is why today, I offer a solution of mine to you. If this sounds like it is right up your alley, I encourage you to grab your phone, go down into your basement, into your bedroom or close the door to your home office and really let loose. What do you have to lose? Click here to try it out.