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After a long slumber, IvanMerrow.com has reawakened and has started to evolve along with a changing set of priorities. This is a brief breakdown of some of the changes I’ve made and the reasons why.
New Header; Accepted to Queen’s
For about a year now the header for IvanMerrow.com was a picture of the beautiful Toronto skyline, where I was proud to reside as a co-op student over a few seasons. Soon after my location changed back to Kitchener-Waterloo (KW), and then to Ottawa for co-op, and then back again to KW so I could finish my undergraduate degree. All the while I kept the Toronto skyline on IvanMerrow.com, knowing I’d be back before long. However, I’m proud to say that in August I’ll be moving to Kingston Ontario, where I’ve been admitted as a dual JD/MBA candidate at Queen’s starting September 2011. My header has been updated to reflect the change.
Out with the Old, in with the New
Old sections I got rid of that were no longer applicable:
- “For Employers” section — originally this was an information page with some info to help employers learn more about hiring co-op students from uWaterloo, including an excellent promotional video from former UW President (now Governer General) David Johnston. Now that I’m heading to law school, recruiters know everything they need to know about hiring summer students and articling students. (If you’re still interested in hiring uWaterloo co-ops, check out this page for Prospective Employers)
- “For Students” section — this has been transformed into the Archive where some of my old articles from the Imprint and IvanMerrow.com are stored that largely pertain to student affairs. It was lucky that I decided to republish my old articles on my own website, since the Imprint recently underwent a website migration that wiped out access to archive issues (although the new site does look beautiful).
New features I added to keep up with the times:
- Revamped my sidebar to include a broader list of legal experts and online resources (after being inspired by internet-savvy blawgers Law is Cool, Omar Ha-Redeye, Michael Geist, the Court and others)
- Two Twitter account feeds, @IvanMerrow and @CanadianLawGuy (that may one day be integrated)
- RSS feeds of the hottest legal news/issues blogs
- A fairly comprehensive disclaimer in case my site becomes wildly popular or controversial
- Streamlined the resume section so it’s easier to load, read, and navigate.
IvanMerrow.com remains an ongoing web development project as its goals change. For now I’d like to see IvanMerrow.com originated blog content show up via links in Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds to drive traffic. To gain exposure, I’d also like to start generating content worthy of contribution to some top Canadian legal blogs over the next two years. Check back soon — you might be surprised at how much things have changed.
Sometimes metaphors reveal themselves in ways you’d never expect. Recently I spent an afternoon outside carrying a truckload of chopped wood across the yard, and stacked it in a neat pile. At the end of it I had two things: a nice pile of wood and the realization that stacking wood is a lot like life. Here’s why.
1. Starting with a plan is a good idea.
A stack of wood without a plan is just another pile of wood. Mine needed to be tall and straight, and located in a key spot next to the fire pit, because that’s what I wanted. We begin a lot of tasks by determining what we want and tracing the steps we need to take to get there. So why don’t we approach life that way?
Determining what we want out of life can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. Visualize what you want your life to look like. Then map out the steps you need to take to get there.
2. Optimism and confidence can only take you so far.
I’m a big believer in optimism. Keeping an open mind allows you to take chances other people might not. You can’t drown in what-ifs when you’re optimistic – you start things – you learn and grow from everything new you try.
However, when you’re building up a stack of wood, optimism doesn’t keep the stack from falling down. You still need to place each piece in a stable position if you expect it to stand up for long. Life is like that. Optimism helps you get started and get over those unavoidable mistakes. It doesn’t keep your life from falling apart, it helps you pick up the pieces when it does. Laying down a strong foundation is what supports your stack, so take the time to do it right.
3. One bad log can’t take down the whole pile.
In my final stack of logs there was more than one that was a little unsteady. But if my pile collapsed it wasn’t because of any one log, it was usually because it wasn’t supported from below.
Work, relationships, health, finances and spirituality– these are all things that play a role in our lives in one way or another. Keeping a balance helps us deal with the odd log that starts to roll out from under us.
4. Things don’t always fit together the way you think they will.
Sometimes it’s tough to tell where to put a piece of wood. You can tell by the shape if it’s going to fit on top of the others, but you never really know until you slap it on to see if it wobbles.
Relationships, jobs and many other parts of your life are like that. You think you have an idea of what’s perfect for you, but you really have no idea until you try it out.
