THREAD:

I don't often tweet about my personal tribulations, but here we go. Buckle up for some schadenfreude.

Earlier this week, I prerecorded a panel about lawyers and social media. We talked about the balance between boosting one's profile and managing one's reputation. I spoke about the importance of curating one's feed and being deliberate about posting.

With all of that, I forgot to mention the golden rule... don't compare your behind the scenes to everyone else's highlight reel.

In the spirit of being open about failure and rejection, I share the following story:

As some of you know, there was a fire in my building back in April. I will be out of a place to live come October. There's something ironic about a landlord/tenant lawyer being so precariously housed. (It's v scary to consider that many are in worse situations, with less buffer.)

And here's where the emotional roller coaster goes off the rails.

Found perfect unit (storefront + living area) in my ideal neighbourhood (Kensington)... great rapport with the owners... thought the deal was done, only to have the landlord--also a lawyer--express fear in case "relations for any reason conceivable [were] to become adversarial."

He added: "We are extremely vulnerable relative to the institutional landlords you do such an amazing job helping your clients deal with."

Fair enough. I point out that I represent small landlords as well, and that my credibility would be ruined if I misbehaved as a tenant.

I also mention that (having seen all sides of conflict with regard to housing) I would NEVER want to entertain a landlord/tenant dispute in my personal life. No thank you. I fight like hell for my clients, which leaves me no energy or inclination to wage battles on my own behalf.

Today, the owner accepted a deposit from someone else. It's a real bummer. My vision of opening a small second office and living in the market went up in smoke.

You'd think I'd have learned by now that 2020 is the year of turmoil and dashed dreams.

I wouldn't be as sour if I had left the viewing with the impression that the owner was weighing options. Instead, it was clearly conveyed that the place was 100% mine for the taking. Recognizing I'm not *entitled* to the unit, it still hurts when the rug is pulled by surprise.

What sucks is that I got passed over because I've had some modest success with what I do. Apparently this made the owner insecure?

I am upset that I feel punished for working hard and building a name for myself, despite the odds.

Still, this is a helpful reminder that things don't always go as planned, even with our best efforts and intentions. There is a lesson here about keeping one's chin up, and not getting bogged down by rejection and 'what ifs'.

Life goes on.

So... does anyone have a space I can rent? I'm flexible! We can definitely add a term to the lease that stops me from writing Twitter threads.