Coincidence?

I have a doppelganger. Okay, so maybe she's not really an EVIL twin, but she appears to be a twin nonetheless. I just like saying "doppelganger." She's not a twin in a physical sense, but in the "oh my god we're living parallel lives" sort of way. It this girl A. that I went to law school with. A. and I were acquaintances in law school, but not really friends. I always liked her, but she seemed a little aloof and lost in her own world. Okay, again, I've probably just described myself.

Regardless, I've recently connected with her on Facebook. I've discovered that she's opened her own jewelry business with an eerily similar name. She had also been working as a Commercial Real Estate attorney until recently. She revealed to me that she and I were both interviewing for the same in-house job back in the Fall, and we've both traveled to Maui and taken similar pictures on the same beach since graduation.

How is it possible to have so much in common with a person and never know it? I guess that's really a dumb question, because it happens all the time. You find yourself locked in to a pre-conceived notion about someone so you never get to know them. Anyway, I think we're going to have lunch soon and this is exciting - a new friend!

She has recently made the very giant move of leaving her traditional law job and going in to contract work. She works part time and does her jewelry the rest of the day. I've been needing to talk to someone with this kind of initiative. Someone who has said "I'm not going to accept being unhappy" and then gone out and done something about it. While I financially cannot do that right now, I can put myself in a position to make that move, and that is something.

I think going to law school is kind of like the military. They break you down and then build you back up, mentally-speaking. You drink the water and begin to think that law is a very linear career path. Associate-Senior Associate-Partner-Dead. That's the life trajectory. Except I've always known that's not the path I will take. It's just harder to get off this treadmill than I'd bargained.

With time, I will get off that treadmill. Thanks A., you've inspired me and you probably don't even know it.