Countdown to Qatar: Letting Go of ASL

So long ASL.  

It's Been Very Good 

to Know You!

Letting go of place also involves letting go of the law school I have called home for 13 years.













It involves letting go of my faculty colleagues at the Appalachian School of Law, many of whom are also in the midst of a transition to a new job and locale. 

It means letting go of students with whom I've built relationships.  It means saying good-bye to a certain type of teaching to a certain population of students -  mostly first generation college or grad school students from the central Appalachian region. 

















It involves giving up a large office I've loved on the "library side" of the award-winning building that houses the law school.

It means saying best wishes to staff members who have always been helpful, hopeful, effective, dedicated, and cheerful.

It means leaving a community where service was at the core of operations for many of us -- service to the school, the students, the profession, and the community.
















I joined the ASL faculty the summer after the shootings that left our acting Dean, Tony Sutin, a beloved professor Tom Blackwell, and a student, Angela Dales, dead from gunshot wounds.  The shooting also left three other students gravely injured.  I was prideful enough to think that my dispute resolution skills might offering some deeper healing to a community scarred by the tragedy.  Instead, I think I did help two of the victims -- just by being present when they needed me.

My many students have taught me how to teach.  Yes, I read just about everything published on the topic of active learning, but the once-semester evaluations always enlighten me.  I love my students and the successful professionals our alumni have become.  They created better lives for themselves and their families because they took advantage of the educational program we offered.

My faculty colleagues have worked overtime in so many ways these past three years to help ASL respond to the New Normal in legal education.  I appreciate their commitment to the mission of the school, but mostly I appreciate their concern and support for students.  They have acted with utmost care, concern, and ethical behavior.







I want to especially thank my Assistant, Sandy Baker, who is professional, timely, persistent, supportive, and smart.  She serves more faculty members than any one Assistant should and does it with patience and grace.
















I will be letting go of the 300 flower bulbs I planted on campus the same day I fractured my leg in three places.  Those daffodils and other early spring flowers always make me feel happy and connected to all the other gardeners who love the message they bring.

I will leave behind to my colleague, Professor Priscilla Harris, my office (if the new Dean permits) and many of the furnishings that made it a productive intellectual home for me.  She has been a constant companion for many years.  Funny, dedicated, wry, scary-smart, and caring.  A complex assortment of characteristics that have made knowing her a delight.

Her husband, Stewart, has also been a good friend, rarely missing an opportunity to give me a warm hug.

I will relinquish the handicap parking spot I used when I knew no one else would need it so another space would open up in the Reserve Parking near the main building. (P.S.  I'm selling my car: 2011 RAV 4 Ltd, 4WD, 48,000 miles, leather interior, JBL sound system.)






Hardest of all, I have decided to pitch the ADR materials I have collected for over decade that now fill 12 lateral file drawers.  That's been a tough decision to make, but letting go is never easy.

I am cherishing the last few weeks I have teaching an online course on Practice Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  I've got really terrific students in the course, and I am interacting with people -- invited experts --  who came into my life when I was a very young associate.  In so many ways, I am enjoying the "book-end" aspects of that course and its design.





I could say so much more, but won't.  As the firm day of my departure for Qatar approaches -  August 15 -- I have moments in which tears well in the corners of my eyes.  This place.  This path.  This learning.  These folks.

The Field of Intention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always There

 

Intention, as Wayne Dyer explains the term, is an infinite field of energy and potential that animates life and is the source for all life.  Its explanation ties to what we know about quantum physics.  Many folks would just call it God.

Dyer further explains:

• We are connected to this field of energy. 
• The more in harmony you are with this field of intention, the more you are able to do all that the field of intention can do: heal, attract, and find.
• People in harmony with this field are especially concerned with cleansing the link to it which may be compromised  by the numbing effects brought about by all the concerns of living at ordinary levels of consciousness. 

Dyer quotes Nobel-prize winning scientist Max Planck, whose work explored the nature of atoms: "As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed science, to the study of matter . . . . [Planck said]: 'There is no matter as such.  All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force that brings the particle of the atom to vibration and holds the most minute solar system of the atom together.  We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious, intelligent mind.  This mind is the matrix of all matter.'"

Dyer asks us to consider the origins of life, first beginning with the "dot" of protoplasm represented by either the egg or the sperm.  That dot consists of molecules, which in turn consists of atoms.  Look into one atom and you find the electron, neutron, and proton and a lot of empty space.  Put that atom into an accelerator, bomb it with other particles, and out comes leptons, quarks, photons, and gluons.  Pull the smallest components apart and eventually you get to nothing . . . and everything.


Recently, the universe made the headlines.  A couple of scientists offered a new hypothesis, suggesting that the universe has always existed.  No big bang needed.  I find this idea especially comforting.  We are bathed in the universe and it has always existed.

Dyer takes it further.  He says:

• Everything in this universe was intended, including you.
• What am I?  A piece of divine force disguised as a human being.

The inspirational phrases I've collected on intention follow:

• The seven faces of intention are: creative, kind, loving, beautiful, expanding, abundant, and receptive.
• Choose to be in close proximity to people who are empowering, who appeal to your sense of connection, to intention, who see the greatness in you, and feel connected to the universe.
• Live under the assumption that your intention has already happened.
• Intentions that are focused through an integrated whole personality are like a laser -- a single, clear beam.
• He knew the truth of who he was, which made his mind a veritable laser.
• Launch a rocket of desire! Then give it attention to add mass.
• Trust the love that can be translated into action.  (Geeneen Roth)
• Whatever I focus on expands. 

 

Vibrations of Energy in the Field of Intention

Alignment with Source and Spirit



Yesterday, I started a series of posts focused on the inspirational phrases I've collected over the last three years.  Today, I want to share the phrases about "energy."
 
For these purposes, I think of "energy" in very broad terms.  It covers the energy used to take divine inspiration, through thinking about the idea, to voicing and discussing it, to generating even more passion about it, and then to exerting your own will to bring the idea into being. It also covers the energy required to connect with others to manifest the idea in tangible form and action. 

That energy, in turn, connects with the broader energy of the environment in which you live. It also connects to the energy of the earth, the planetary system, deep space, and ultimately to the source of everything we experience in the material world.  
 
Yes, I know I had you there for a while until I took that turn to woo-woo. Hang in there.
 
So here are the inspirational phrases that elaborate on these themes:

• There are really no "objects" [in the world] at all, only vibrations of energy and relationships.
• Use my energy to become the most fantastic, the most joyful, wondrous, beautiful, tender human being possible.
• Play and have fun. It's the ultimate energy generator.
• Make a decision in love and joy.  Avoid the energy of regret.
• Influence how energy flows through me every day.
• Just let the extremes go.  Don't feed them any energy.
• Low energy that weakens us arises from shame, anger, hatred, judgment, and fear.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about "intention." 

 

Pushing for Wholeness

May the Force

Be with You

I'm in a very reflective stage right now.  Perhaps the transition to spring reminds me of the path of growth I have walked the last three years. 

As part of that process, I wrote phrases that inspired me on index cards.  First, I tacked the cards to my bedroom wall so I could see them throughout the day.  Later, I tucked them into an envelope.  This week-end, I read through them and decided to share them with you over the next several posts.

Prayers to the Universe

This post takes the broadest view as seen through my collection of phrases.  It talks in terms of the universe, the energetic field, or the force field, but many people would choose instead to talk about God.  I've included the source of the phrase, if I captured it on the card.

• The force field constantly pushes for wholeness.
• The universe is limitless, abundant, and strangely accommodating.
• Absolutely anything is possible!
• Trust the field of infinite possibilities.
• You have to open yourself to an identity with that part of the universe that you already possess, but which you may not have been conscious of.  Proof of Heaven
• The force field is the ceaseless desire of the spirit in me to become all I am capable of being.
• Find those people in whom spirit has found celebration through them.
• By changing what I am looking for, I can radically change what shows up in my world.
• Consciousness itself creates the material world.
• To ask for something in prayer is simply to lay hold of what's yours.  You have the responsibility to command your life.
• We draw from the field what we are looking for.  Expect the best!

Yes, I know.  Very woo-woo. 

But another card provided clear acknowledgement of these concepts.  It reads:  "I attracted this job, this boss, this house, this car, this garden, these friends, this debt, these skills, these animals, these clothes, this fitness level, this food, this music, this help, and this family."

So, true.  So, what do I want to attract next?  More about that in the later posts.  

Lawyers as Bloggers

In for a Penny, In for a Pound

In March 2013, I posted my first post on this blog.  After several months of business coaching with Christine Kane and exposure to the concept of "content marketing," I wanted to explore the platform and its uses. I wanted to run an experiment. 

How long would it take the Google bots to find me?  I'd been told it would take a year of daily blogging.  So, I committed to that publication schedule.  In 2013, I made 182 posts over a ten month period.  Not exactly every day, but just about 20 posts a month or 4.5 posts a week. 

In the process, I regained the voice I had had as a columnist for the magazine published for members of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL).  The coverage is eclectic, but then I promised broader coverage in my description of the blog:  "Discussing new ways to meet the needs of law firm clients, mediation parties, negotiators, and law students."

Two years later, I have published almost 300 posts. 

Last month, my webhost sent me a message letting me know that my URL domain name and hosting fees will come due soon and be automatically renewed.  That message makes me pause to consider whether investing in the blog makes sense.  The answer continues to be "yes." 

In a few weeks, I'll pass 75,000 pages views, most of which are bots.  So, the experiment worked.  Google the words "The Red Velvet Lawyer," and the top six search results will refer to the blog.  Google the words "Paula Marie Young," and the first three search pages feature mostly me.  Those searches also reflect my commitment to social media. 

A blog, however, reminds me of the scene in the film, Little Shop of Horrors, when the alien plant demands: "Feed me!"  

Several times a week, I scroll down my own blog roll looking for new posts from other bloggers.  Today, I cleaned out any bloggers who were not posting on at least a 3-month basis.  Yes, it is a commitment, but it is an important way to contribute, educate, share, and grow.  Bloggers who post valuable content on a regular basis deserve the attention they garner.  They distinguish themselves from other folks in the market through their tenacity.  And, for lawyer-bloggers, their blogs can help ideal clients find them and pre-qualify for offered services.

Finally, the blog implements two coaching lessons I've applied for a very long time:  "Don't be afraid to be seen" and "do it imperfectly."  Both lessons lead to greater success.

More Approaches to Setting Goals

Making Higher Aspirations

a Part of Your Life

In December, I shared a goal setting strategy focused on picking one (or three) words for the year. Yesterday, I ran across this collection of other goal setting strategies.

The "Sunday Summit"

Tracking Gains,

Setting Weekly Goals,

and

Holding Yourself Accountable

Yesterday, I described my productive use of three snow days and the "satisfaction of completion."  Today, I want to describe a tool my business coach, Christine Kane, advised me to use in her UpLevel Your Life on-line coaching program.

She calls the tool the "Sunday Summit" because she encourages you to use it once a week to plan your intention for the week.  I have used it every week for three years.

The 2-page tool consists of eight questions.  The questions on page one help you focus on gains made the last week and create accountability for missed goals. 

The questions are:

1.  What have I accomplished this week?
2.  Is there anything I wanted to accomplish but did not?
3.  What a-ha's or awakenings have I had this week?
4.  What challenges am I experiencing?
5.  If I were coaching myself, what would I tell myself about those challenges?

The second page shifts focus to the coming week.  The questions are:

6.  What are my top three priorities for this coming week?
7.  If I could get nothing else done this week but ONE THING, what one thing would I choose to do?  What one thing would make me happy and proud?
8.  How do I want to feel this week?  Who do I want to BE? 

I really like the first question.  As a busy professional woman, I always have a long to-do list.  This question gives me a moment to savor my accomplishments and celebrate the progress I have made.  Threes on the enneagram have an especially hard time doing this, so this tool can help them.

For Question 7, I can almost never pick just one thing as the week's priority.  I typically have three must-do projects for each week.  If I fail to complete one of them, I roll it to Questions 2 and 6 of the Sunday Summit for the next week. 

Three questions attempt to capture mindset, emotions, and softer aspects of weekly success.   When I look back over the collection of Sunday Summits that I have created, the answers to Questions 4, 5, and 8 often prove most revealing about the growth I am experiencing.

Productively Using my Snow Days

The Satisfaction of Completion

This last week, the Dean declared three snow days.  I feel like a kid when that happens.  Yes, I did play in the snow a bit.  But, mostly, I enjoyed what my business coach, Christine Kane, calls the "satisfaction of completion."

On Sunday and Monday, I completed my tax returns for 2013 and 2014, and I plan to use the refunds to pay off most of my debt. 
Ka-ching!

On Thursday, I began writing the minutes for the Admissions Committee on which I serve. Last night, I completed the first drafts.  

Those two big projects had been hanging over my head for a long time.  I'm glad they are behind me because their completion frees up so much energy that I can now focus on new projects, including a couple of law review articles I want to finish this week. 

P.S. The photo features a nearby view.  Thanks to alumni, Darryle Ronning, for sharing it on Facebook. 

Law Grad Salaries Exceed Median Household Income

Still a Good Option If You Can Get  a Bargain on Legal Education

For the full story, see here.

Getting to Yes with Yourself and Other Worthy Opponents

How is Your Own Stuff Affecting the Negotiation?

Bill Ury has published a new book: Getting to Yes with Yourself and Other Worthy Opponents.  I've not read it yet.  But, as the big storm of 2015 began dropping snowflakes on Grundy, I watched an hour-long video featuring Ury at a Google-sponsored event during which he describes the book, tells several stories as examples, and engages the audience in a discussion and a role-play.

First,  I do love the "getting" series of books.  I've read them all.  I have assigned Getting to Yes to all my students over the last thirteen years of my teaching career.  In another week, my current students will start reading it.  I use Getting Disputes Resolved in my Arbitration seminar, partly because it refers to a labor dispute in a coal mine located not far from the Appalachian School of Law.  I also use it because it was one of the first books written on dispute resolution system design.   Power of a Positive No: Save the Deal Save the Relationship and Still Say No is a very helpful guide for "other-oriented" folks who have a hard time saying "no" (especially 2s on the enneagram). So, I'll order Ury's new book and fly through, I'm sure.

Second, I was pleased to see him raise the topic of managing ourselves in the negotiation process.  Too often we blame the other side for the impasse or challenges of negotiation.  He suggests, by referring back to the advice of an earlier book, to "go to the balcony," that we have a responsibility to ourselves, our clients, and the other party to take an appropriate time-out to assess what is going on completely within ourselves -- emotions, psychological triggers, deep identity quakes, insecurities, the need to be right, and so on.

I discuss all these factors in my courses, especially the upper level mediation course.  That course coverage falls under the category of "empowerment," as far as I am concerned.  I teach students to avoid blaming others and instead help them begin a life of accepting their contribution to any difficult situation, taking responsibility for missteps, offering apologies, and forgiving freely. 

But, Ury said something else in the video that resonates because of the three years I have spent in the coaching programs offered by Christine Kane.  Ury told the story of working with two very successful European businessmen after their partnership dissolved into blame, fights over control, and expensive litigation. 

He engaged in a deeper-level intervention with one of the businessmen, asking him to look deeply into his heart (my words, not Ury's) to discover what he truly wanted.  Ury asked this man to get very clear about his own needs.  Once Ury heard that the businessman most wanted "freedom" to pursue his own interests, businesses, and family life, Ury asked him how he could get that need met without any permission or participation by the estranged partner.  With that clarity, the businessmen negotiated an agreement in a very short time.  Lovely.  We often fail to see the control we have over our own success and happiness. 

Finally, how does Ury maintain that broad smile as he talks?  As those of you who have watched my webinars know, this is a trick I have not yet mastered.  My heart is in the right place, but I just can't do it all at once: concentrate, talk, and smile!

I hope you find a rewarding way to spend this snow day. 

Shale Gas Fracking: Protecting the Interests of Landowners

Teaching Students to Serve Future Clients

This week, I've been designing my class that will be a part of ASL's Introduction to Natural Resources Law course.  We are offering the course as a one-week intensive before regular classes start in January. Through it, we hope to encourage students to earn our Natural Resources Law certificate.  

My day-long class will focus on shale gas production in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays located in mostly Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and New York.  The class will include an overview, presentations by a couple of guest speakers, and then a simulated negotiation of a mineral lease.  I am expecting it to provide good coverage of the topic and a fairly interesting way to spend an 8-hour day of class. I am trying to frame perspectives from the industry, the environmental protection community, and health officials.  

My slide show is almost done.  I've really enjoyed the required research and my discussions with experts in the field.  I still need to read a 185-page report recently issued by the New York State Department of Health in support of a ban of shale play production in the state.  

All this research is getting me back to my law practice roots.

When I graduated from law school in 1982, I practiced energy law in my first and second jobs. I first joined the energy practice group of the largest law firm in Oklahoma, a firm now called Hall Estill.  I practiced in the natural gas group and focused on intra-state gas production and transmission. The industry, however, was going through a sea change triggered by deregulation of interstate pricing by Congress in 1978.  That regulatory change, in turn, generated a production bubble as interstate natural gas prices rose. That bubble burst several years later.  Thus, I had the unusual opportunity to see a full market cycle unfold. 

I next moved to the energy department of what was then the third largest firm in the world -- Skadden Arps.  I practiced before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), although I also attended many Congressional committee hearings during this transition in the industry. Among other duties, I wrote a weekly update for a client about what was happening in the energy market. I remember the day when oil prices exceeded $60 per barrel. This was a huge event.  Until the late 1970s, oil had never exceeded $30 a barrel.

Of course, now the talk is about dropping oil prices -- with the cost moving below $60 for the first time since mid-2009.   I've included graphs showing these trends in my class slides, but can't share them here because I don't have a license to produce them.

As I write this post, another image popped into my head. During my college years, I worked as a gas station attendant in a rural town in Iowa.  I worked during the Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the later U. S. oil price controls.  I helped implement gas rationing.  I watched my boss wipe tears from his cheeks the day that he had to replace the meters in his gas pumps.  They did not go above 50 cents a gallon.  He was dumbfounded.  They had never needed to go higher for as long as he had owned the station.  In 1972, when I graduated from high school, gas sold for 36 cents a gallon ($1.36 in today's currency). 

Of course, this experience sparked my interest in energy.  I first approached it through the science by taking a number of geology classes while at Wash U.  In law school, I took courses in oil and gas law and regulated industries.  My law journal note covered a public utility issue.  Then, after law school, I practiced energy law for five years.  Later still, I was drawn to ASL because of the region's tie to coal production. 

I've still got a lot to learn in this new energy market, but I am thankful for my background in the field that kept me paying attention even when clients did not rely on my advice.

Finally, I have added to my blog role several blogs relating to shale play production, including one specifically designed to help mineral rights owners negotiate good deals.  That blog's administrator, Ronald B Stamets, will be one of my guest speakers for class. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from the Red Velvet Lawyer

Happy Holidays 

to my 

Friends, Colleagues, and Students

Hope you are enjoying the day with your families.

P.S.  This modern interpretation of the three wise men comes from the photos I took in Dubai earlier this month.  I snapped it in the lobby of the Burj Al Arab, a six-star hotel on the Gulf that overlooks the man-made Palm and World Islands. 

My Gratitude Journal

Happier for Having Kept It

For over three years, I have kept a gratitude journal at the suggestion of my entrepreneurial business coach, Christine Kane. Several researchers have found profound affect on emotional, psychological, and physical well-being associated with being grateful for all the wonderful things that come into our lives -- big and small. It enhances our social networks, personal relationships, and our careers. It enhances happiness overall.  I've noticed it helps me shift from being self-oriented to other-orientated,  

The Harvard Medical School's Health Publications blog defines gratitude and then suggests ways we can cultivate it.  Note that the author suggests keeping a gratitude journal.

Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in the hopes it will make them happier, or thinking they can't feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack. And, although it may feel contrived at first, this mental state grows stronger with use and practice.  

Here are some ways to cultivate gratitude on a regular basis. 

Write a thank-you note. You can make yourself happier and nurture your relationship with another person by writing a thank-you letter expressing your enjoyment and appreciation of that person's impact on your life. Send it, or better yet, deliver and read it in person if possible. Make a habit of sending at least one gratitude letter a month. Once in a while, write one to yourself. 

Thank someone mentally. No time to write? It may help just to think about someone who has done something nice for you, and mentally thank the individual. 

Keep a gratitude journal. Make it a habit to write down or share with a loved one thoughts about the gifts you've received each day. 

Count your blessings. Pick a time every week to sit down and write about your blessings — reflecting on what went right or what you are grateful for. Sometimes it helps to pick a number — such as three to five things — that you will identify each week. As you write, be specific and think about the sensations you felt when something good happened to you.

Pray. People who are religious can use prayer to cultivate gratitude.

Meditate. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. Although people often focus on a word or phrase (such as "peace"), it is also possible to focus on what you're grateful for (the warmth of the sun, a pleasant sound, etc.).

I live in a part of the world in which life focuses on the Christine religion and church families.  One person I know always responds "blessed" when I ask her how she is doing.  Each time I get that response, I know she is a person living a life of gratitude.  

My journal has two other components.  I also capture any "gains" I have made for the day.  Today, for instance, I might record that I finished my post-trip laundry, blogged again, cleaned up several rooms in the house, and created a project list I want to conquer over the next three weeks.  I also finished reading a chapter in a book on hydrofracking for a course I am teaching in January. 

Finally, I record any gifts I've given that day. Again, the happiness research shows that gift-giving enhances our sense of well-being.  I try to give a gift a day.  For that practice, the book -- 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life by Cami Walker -- inspired me.     

Be the Best at Getting Better

Successful Growth Requires that You "Outlearn" Your Peers

I've spent the last few days catching up on blog posts, my favorite shows on Hulu, and the New York Times, all of which I missed while spending a week in Dubai on vacation.

One blog post really stuck with me as I was working on my goals for next year. In a post called, In 2015, Be the Best at Getting Better, author Dharmesh Shah talked about the simple commitment of being the best at getting better.  He explains:

[C]ommitting to a one-time goal like learning to code or dropping 10 pounds can get lost amid the rush, assigned a lower priority, or just become uninteresting after a time. 

A commitment to becoming the best at getting better requires only a fundamental admission that you’re not perfect and a desire to outlearn your peers on a daily basis.

I love that!  I can handle that sort of personal and organizational commitment for 2015.  I can apply it to all my goals -- whether well-being, manifestation, or love.

Brian Balfour, VP of growth at HubSpot, first talked about the concept in terms of growth in his blog posting here.   He writes:

With any company or product you can set all sorts of goals and dreams. But at the end of the day there are thousands of variables that you can’t control. 

Specifically in growth:

1. Customer acquisition channels are always changing.

2. Competitors are always are always entering the market.

3. The needs and desires of your target audience are always evolving.

What you can control is yourself and your team. You control how effective your team is, how well you know your channels and customer, and the rate at which you are improving. Focus on what you can control, being the best at getting better.

He also has good advice on reflecting back on any effort to grow -- whether successful or not.  The process leads to more learning that you can implement in the next experiment. 

He also lists a number of strategies that help employees at HubSpot grow.  The company clearly invests in its people as a competitive strategy.

My law school can commit to the concept of being the best at getting better.  So, can my faculty colleagues.  And, just as importantly, so can our students. 

How can you be the best at getting better?