Become
"[M]y real self has yet to come forth,
It shall yet march forth o'ermastering, till all lies beneath me,
It shall yet stand up the soldier of ultimate victory."
-- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, From Noon to Starry Night, Ah Poverties, Wincings, and Sulky Retreats.
I forget where I first heard the term used, but I like to say that we're all "human becomings," not human beings. I like that term better, because if we're just "being," then it implies we're just passively floating through life without any impulse or need to change. On the other hand, if we're "becoming," then we're always in a state of evolution, recognizing that what we do and what happens to us effects us, and constantly challenges us and changes us from previous versions of ourselves.
If you look at my bio, you'll see that I spent roughly five years at my last position before launching my own practice in the fall of 2014. I give a lot of credit to my experience during those five years as a formative time for me as a lawyer. I handled lots of cases, learned the ropes at Family Court, and I learned a lot from the lawyers around me, from those in my office to those on the other side of the aisle. For all of that, I'm very thankful; I wouldn't be the lawyer I am today without it.
Now my life as a solo practitioner is relatively fresh. There were a lot of restrictions at my old job, from who we could represent to where we could practice cases. But now, I'm free. And in this sense I'm still "becoming" the lawyer that I want to be.
In this nascent phase of my professional development, the quote above from Mr. Whitman really struck a chord and predictively reflects what I hope is a process over the next 5, 10, 20, or more years into what I will become, not even so much as a lawyer, but as a person. In this process, I hope you'll join me.