You’ve probably seen some of the personal blog posts from our head writer, Lauren, around here before. She’s talked about how knitting helps her stay mindful, about her journey toward building better habits this year (and the update), and about why she had to quit drinking caffeine (even though she still loves a good cup of decaf coffee).

But Emma realized recently that while these posts help give an idea about who Lauren is, they don’t really give the whole picture--so Emma asked for a little more.

The Backstory

See, Lauren’s a high school teacher now, but before that, she spent nearly eight years as a lawyer. She started out practicing high-stakes litigation in a large, international law firm’s Downtown Los Angeles office, and then moved to a smaller firm in her hometown where she focused on employment law and business litigation. The two environments were different in a lot of ways, but there was one thing in common:

Stress.

The stress of practicing law is what first led Lauren to mindfulness. More specifically, she made friends with a bankruptcy lawyer named Jeena Cho, whose book, The Anxious Lawyer (co-authored with Karen Gifford), helped her understand some of her brain’s anxiety responses to stress and how mindfulness can help her recognize and channel those responses.

It helped—a lot—until eventually it just wasn’t enough. Burnout set in.

So Lauren changed careers and went back to high school—or, to be more precise, she started teaching at her old high school, which has been growing a program for teenagers interested in the law and legal careers. It’s been nourishing, energizing, and so much fun, but Lauren realized she missed all the writing she used to do when she was lawyering.

The Meet

That’s how Lauren and Emma crossed paths. In June 2019, Emma was looking for a content writer to help shape Myrth’s web presence. Lauren had started taking on a few freelance writing and editing clients to scratch the writing itch. They had a Zoom conference call, realized they had quite a bit in common and decided to try out a small run of blog posts together.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Now, Lauren starts every morning with a 6:30 am Focusmate session, checks off habits on her phone throughout the day, and channels that new energy and focus into creating more content for Myrth. When she’s not writing or teaching, she’s designing knitting patterns meant to help quiet the overactive brain and give fidgety hands something to do. You can also find her in her rose garden or chasing her preschooler at the beach.

But she’s still working on that whole “getting organized” thing.

Do you know any anxious lawyers? Or maybe you have transitioned away from a stressful job this year? Share your stories in the comments below.

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