President's Letter
After two years of unpredictable times, I have mixed emotions that I am certain many of you can relate to and some may share. The impact that the ongoing pandemic, the divisiveness in our communities, and the weight the constant uncertainty has had on people, especially women, cannot be forgotten. However, it is with hope, courage, strength, and perseverance that we move forward into 2022.
As has been customary of past SCWLA Presidents, I have chosen a word for the year. RESILIENCE is defined as the often remarkable ability to withstand adversity, adapt, and bounce back; toughness.
While resilience is often touted as an excellent and necessary quality for women lawyers, I believe it is important to recognize that the expectations of developing and maintaining resilience can become overwhelming. The negative can greatly outweigh the positive as our quest to remain irrepressible suppresses our needs for self-care. It is no secret that mental health and wellness are hot topics in the legal profession, and the demands on our time and high stress levels make it difficult to allocate time to look after ourselves.
I challenge you all to make 2022 the year we redefine resilience to include a commitment to ourselves to focus on wellness and make time for much-needed self-reflection, mindfulness, and balance in our lives. As for SCWLA, my goals as president are for the Board of Directors, with our members, to continue to educate, lift up, and support each other through new experiences and programming dedicated to resilience. It is through better overall health and wellness that we work toward our mission of enhancing the status, influence and effectiveness of women lawyers in South Carolina. Let 2022 be the year of YOU!
SCWLA is YOUR organization, and I encourage you to join the conversation and become more involved. If you have ideas for ways SCWLA can better serve our members, please reach out to me directly.
I am humbled and honored to serve you as SCWLA president and look forward to a meaningful and rewarding year.
-Kristen Nichols
#RedefineResilience