Hi my friend,
How are you doing? Life reasonably good, in spite of a helluva lot of sorrow and disquiet permeating the air (not to mention pollen and other allergens)…
There’s something that is itching in me and I wish there was an antihistamine I could take. In lieu of better living through pharmacology, I’ll try better living through expression.
When I retired from the firm (a firm I grew to love, with people I still hold close in my heart), I consulted for a while; affiliated with a company that created and presented content for the legal profession. It was an excellent segue and allowed me to learn a new rhythm to my days.
Flash forward to today, when I was asked to remove the consulting experience from my professional history, at the request of the firm. The individual who replaced me, intimated that he wouldn’t do business with this consulting firm if my name was associated with them. So I took that experience off of my LinkedIn profile.
I haven’t consulted for quite a while, and had the request been to change to a retired status, it would have been understandable. So, now that I’ve erased a truth, I feel frustrated and hurt. And angry.
I just wanted you to know that I was here. I can erase every damn piece of professional history from LinkedIn, Who’s Who, Facebook and anywhere else my name is included. I can shrink my footprint into technological non-existence. But I was here. I worked for a firm I loved, I consulted with a group of talented people, I was highly regarded until it became necessary to become a pariah. But I was here, and what I did for 22 years mattered. What I did for a few years after that, mattered. You can erase me, negate me, relegate me to a whisper of a memory – but I was here.
I know this is a huge departure for me. I will return to a post that is far less me-focused. I just had to stand proudly – for me. I was here.
Waiting for the Karma Truck 