health and illness

It is a funny thing we people do. When we ask about love, we talk about heartbreak. And when we ask about health, we talk about illness. This blog is not about illness. It is entirely about health. Health is the topic, the inspiration, and the mission. Everything that is put on this blog is put with a purposeful intent to promote a health-FULL existence. Body, mind, spirit, relationships, career and everything else that makes for a full life deserves to be positively promoted. I am not so ignorant as to believe I, alone, am the only person impacted by my presence. You've all read the studies - feelings of insufficiency skyrocket after surfing Facebook or reading fashion magazines. We may be self-interested but we are definitely social creatures. We necessarily impact. My intention is to do so responsibly. This is a place to collect, share, and reflect while on this path of a health-FULL life (as a law student or otherwise). 

That being said, we need to talk about something first...

For the most part, law students are not a healthy bunch. I recently heard that the average incoming law class has rates of depression similar to any other post-secondary program. By third year, that same law class will trump the national average three times over;  almost half of all graduates show signs of depression. Depending on who you ask, working lawyers are two to four times more likely to suffer from depression than the general population.

There are lots of possible explanations. It could be that law students are a community of people particularly susceptible to dis-eases, like depression. The stereotype is, after all, a recipe for disaster: type A, highly competitive, equating Self with achievement. If you skim the top names from a long list of over-achieving undergrads and then tell them, "actually, you are not as smart as you thought" it can be very damaging to one's ego. Especially if you are attached to that ego. Highly competitive people usually are. It is a nasty set of affairs, ain't it?  

Or maybe it is not the people; maybe the system is failing. Maybe it is the way law is taught. Maybe it is the way law is practiced. Maybe it is the nature of working with the world's problems day-in, day-out. Or maybe it is the tiresome opinion of the general public (remember that part about equating your Self with external achievement?). At the very least, things could be better. There is nothing on the planet, education and professional paths included, that cannot be improved, re-thought, and challenged. Life has no off-limits. 

Like I said, though, this blog is not intended to be a place for complaints, needed or otherwise. This is a blog about health. About thriving. About being FULL of life as a law student, a medical student, a teacher, a musician, a yogi, or a parent. This is a blog where positivity is intended to emit. I believe in putting something positive in the world and I believe in collecting ideas, stories, and resources from others. Life is too short for me to figure it out on my own. So, as much as this is coming from a place of dissatisfaction with what I am seeing, this is really coming from a belief that the status quo needn't remain. We can do great work and be great people at the same time. Personally, I chose to pursue law. I love the law. But my health is not up for grabs. 

So, let the food be healthy, the exercise- daily, and the lawyering mindful. 

We don't have to be sick. 

Let's be full of intent. 

Let's be full of health.