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SURVIVING IN CAPTIVITY
There is a cute story about the different ways that dogs and cats view life. In the dog’s diary, everything is wonderful—Dog food—my favourite thing! Walk—my favourite thing! Sleeping on the bed—my favourite thing!
But the cat’s diary opens with “Day 983 of my captivity”….and outlines the cat’s plan to escape and neutralize the kidnappers.
I sympathize with the cat. By my reckoning, I am on Day 72 of my COVID-19 captivity. My escapes are short-lived and not very exciting. I try to find joy in the ordinary things, like the dog in the joke, but it is getting harder as each day progresses—you can only do so much with another utility bill in the mail—my favourite! Sitting on a lawn chair on the driveway to talk to neighbours on their driveway—my favourite! Laundering cloth masks—my favourite!
We have some optimism as Phase 1 of reopening occurs, but this is a long way still from normal as we knew it, or what new normal is going to be.
At Assist, we know that everyone is feeling stress and strain. We hear from you and learn what your needs are, and then because we are a small organization, we try to respond with programs and resources that may be helpful to you. Please let us know if you are facing difficulties that we have not addressed.
One of the groups who is hardest hit by Working From Home and the economic cataclysm are students just completing their articles and junior lawyers, many of whom are finding themselves without jobs. Being a young lawyer during a recession is not fun—I was called to the bar in 1987 and jobs were scarce. Time will tell, but anecdotally the COVID-19 situation certainly seems to be the worst job market in most practicing lawyers’ memory.
Assist is partnering with LESA to provide resources, focused on young lawyers but open to any lawyers who want to participate, to enhance job-seeking skills and to demystify setting up your own shop.
Webinars will be held on Fridays, at noon. You can register here: LESA.org/careerwebinars.
Friday, May 29--A Lawyer’s Guide to Effective Networking
Learn networking tips from marketing expert Ronda Nadelec, from zag Creative, and Assist volunteer, Sanjiv Parmar from Parmar Law, who networked his way to an articling position and then to build his own firm.
Friday, June 5--How to Make it Past the First Cut: What Recruiters and Employers are Looking For
While legal recruiters often focus on more senior lawyers, recruiter Alison Bennett from The Counsel Network will share what junior lawyers can do to make themselves stand out from the competition and set themselves up for successful placement when the job market improves.
Friday, June 12--Opening Your Own Shop: What you Need to Know Before Hanging your Shingle
If you are thinking about opening your own firm since jobs are scarce, you need to comply with Law Society requirements, and there are best practices that will set you up for success.
These webinars are free!
While these webinars are targeted to young lawyers, everyone is welcome.
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The tragic events in Strathcona County last week have caused lawyers to talk more about mental health and suicide.
John Gulak, former Assist Board Chair and current men’s mental health advocate, shared a men’s suicide awareness campaign called Buddy Up. Men are four times as likely to die from suicide as women, while women are three times as likely to attempt suicide. Gender appears to play a role, and there are aspects of masculine socialization that make it harder to talk about mental health. We have added Buddy Up to our website.
We are updating our website functionality, with a launch date of mid-July. We are excited about the opportunity to make resources more easily accessible, which will include suicide prevention resources for different demographic groups.
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As the province enters phase 1 of reopening, many of us have discovered that our work clothes no longer fit due to the dreaded COVID 15 (pounds put on while working from home.)
We will be launching AssistFit Back in our Work Clothes shortly, where you can join us for virtual lunch hour walks with your Fitbit or other step tracking device.
Interested in participating but don’t like the Big Brother aspect of FitBit and its ilk? We have Assist-branded step trackers left over from last year's Walks for Wellness that do not communicate with anyone but you. Please let us know if you would like one and we will send it to you!
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Remember that if you aren’t feeling like yourself, call us!
Loraine
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