Here’s why Jarica Oeltjen, Assistant General Counsel at BKD, LLP, continues to be one of our favorites.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Last Saturday, November 16, 2019, while putting away some fall décor and clumsily pulling out a miniature Christmas tree from a closet in my garage, I knocked over a “Leader of Tomorrow” award I received back in law school. The award is made of glass, and thankfully, the whole thing didn’t shatter into tons of pieces when it unexpectedly greeted the garage floor. Instead, just a few pieces chipped off the top and the award, for the most part, was still intact.
I’ve written about a bottle of wine that went unbroken and imbibed. Last year’s article had to do with a busted coffee carafe in my garage and changed circumstances. I laughed at myself as soon as this latest episode happened. I thought hey, I’ll have to write an article about this! People may laugh, and it will be charming that I keep having broken-glass stories for writing inspirations.
So, what to make of the broken award? I had to pick up the pieces under my Jeep so as not to have my almost 4-year old cut his foot open (putting his shoes on these days without any ailments is a challenge, let alone with a legit wound). Next, I took stock of the award and noticed that it now had an awesome, unique look to it; the award was better than before even though it almost died!
And that made me think: We all go through things that are utterly awful and unexpected at times. In other words, we all have our own version(s) of “the lawyer lady with the wine forgot me in a garage closet to collect dust and die, then she knocked me over and I lost a piece or two of myself during the crash.”
Over 7 years ago, I was a lot like the glass award on Friday, November 15, 2019. Outwardly, I was all put together, shiny, and pristine. I was about to graduate law school and truly had. no. clue. Today, I am more like the award today. I’ve lost loved ones. I’ve endured postpartum anxiety/OCD. I’ve professionally fell flat on my face more times than I care to count. To say the least, I’ve got missing pieces, and I’m a bit rough around the edges. But I’m also more understanding and understandable with my bumps, bruises, and missing pieces clearly on display.
The moral of the story for me is this: Embrace your brokenness. It may be way more beautiful and inspiring than what existed before.
(Borrowed from the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association Bar News)