What I Learned About Myself After Almost Dying From Covid-19

I’m not in the self-help or self-improvement space — I write about the Supreme Court, law firms, and other legal stuff — but if you’ll indulge me, I have some life advice to share.

This is a bit cliched, but your life is your life — and if you’re not happy with it, it’s on you to change it. You care the most about it, and you’re in the best position to improve it.

Last year, I had a near-death experience with Covid-19, which put me in NYU Langone for three weeks, including a week in the ICU on a ventilator. It sucked, obviously, but it was a wake-up call.

At the time that I got sick with Covid, I was a bit adrift. I was humming with a low-level dissatisfaction. Something wasn’t quite right in my life, but I wasn’t quite sure what.

I was working at the time as a legal recruiter at Lateral Link. It’s a great recruiting company, and my then-colleagues were (and are) awesome. But recruiting as a job wasn’t fulfilling me completely.

One thing I did learn doing my Covid-19 experience, which I live-tweeted and wrote about for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Slate, was how much I missed writing. So I thought to myself during the pandemic, “Maybe I should try writing again.” Kind of on a whim, I started a “side hustle” in December 2020 — launching Original Jurisdiction ("OJ"), a Substack newsletter/blog about law and the legal profession, my main topics pre-Covid.

Original Jurisdiction started getting traction. I started spending more time on it. And I was enjoying it â€” more than my day job. (I had the same experience when I first started blogging in 2004 at Underneath Their Robes, while still practicing law.)

This spring, I started toying with the idea of leaving legal recruiting to work on OJ full-time. But it was daunting. Recruiting has been relatively lucrative, more lucrative than my prior writing career. My husband and I have a mortgage and a three-year-old son.

But I decided to, as Nike says, just do it. I gave notice at Lateral Link, with my last official day as April 30 (I'm still finishing up a few final projects), and as of Monday, May 3, I became a full-time writer once again.

I’ve been back to writing full-time for less than three weeks, but so far, so good. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how many people have signed up as paid subscribers to Original Jurisdiction, which is now how I make a living. I’m cautiously optimistic that writing will work out financially. 

But more importantly than the money, I’m happier, on a day to day level, and I'm more engaged with my work. These days I wake up in the morning and I’m energized and excited (well, except when our three-year-old wakes us up too early). And sometimes at night I’m so into what I’m doing, I wind up staying up way past my bedtime.

I’m also a much more likable and enjoyable person to be around (or so my husband Zach tells me). Now our dinner talk consists of brainstorming about projects I’m excited to tackle — Zach is also my editor — and not my venting.

I’ve had this experience before. I was scared when I left practicing law to write full-time at the political blog Wonkette. I was scared when I left Wonkette, at the time a very established blog, to start Above the Law, the legal blog for which I'm best known today.

But years later, I can say that both things worked out. I don't regret taking either risk â€” and I would have regretted not making those jumps. In my experience (and I admit I'm a very fortunate person), things often have a way of working out.

Now, I’m very, very lucky. I have no student loans. My husband makes a good living as a lawyer. We have savings. Not everyone is in such a fortunate position.

But some people are (including the many successful professionals here on LinkedIn). If you, like me, are fortunate enough to have a safety net, don’t let it go to waste. Yet another cliche, but true, as I know as an alum of the ventilator: Life is too short. Follow your dreams.

And if you’re not yet able to follow your dreams, perhaps for financial reasons, do what you can to make that possible eventually. Downsize your lifestyle. Save like a maniac. Marry rich (or richer). ;-)

Remember: it’s up to you to fix your life. And for those of you with safety nets — e.g., frustrated white-collar workers with tons in savings — you’re like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. You’ve had the power to save yourself all along.

This advice isn’t just about your career. If you’re unhappy in a relationship, end it. If you’re not satisfied with your home, move (which we are in the midst of doing, from Manhattan to the New Jersey suburbs â€” yay for a home office).

If you’re scared, seek help. Ask family and friends for advice or support. I haven't been shy about asking folks to subscribe to OJ, for example (even if it feels a bit awkward, like hitting up friends to buy your daughter's Girl Scout cookies).

So if you’re not happy with your career or your life, don’t just whine and whine — as I did, for months on end, before doing anything.

Take action. Take risks. You have the power to change your own life. Good luck!

Versions of this post previously appeared on Twitter and Facebook, but I thought I'd share it here, on LinkedIn, given how much of it is about career choices. Please feel free to share with anyone who might find it helpful. Thanks!