On coloring

In “real” life, I am a writer, an attorney.  Sometimes I forget.  I would’ve liked to have been a writer.  I got my degree in English.  But somewhere along the way I landed in a different career.  Not necessarily a distinct one though.  I write a lot.  Maybe that explains in some way why this space has been a little more silent of late.  I must have written a short novel over the past couple of months between papers for conferences, motions, responses to motions, briefs, and other types of work.  But that’s just it.  All of that is work.  And this is not. 

You might have noticed that I ended that last paragraph with three fragmented sentences.  Did it bother you?  I can’t do that in “legal” writing.  It can be horribly frustrating to always make sure I’m coloring inside the lines.  That’s not exactly how my brain is wired.  I like some adventure, some level of chaos.

I think if we mandate that the colors stay inside the lines, we just increase the pressure of life.  Chaos upon chaos with no ability to have colors seep to the outsides.  That’s a recipe for explosion.

I’ve got this paperweight at home that I received as a graduation gift when I finished law school.  It has a quote from someone who I don’t remember that says “There is no greater exercise of the imagination than the practice of law.”  Maybe.  But in a very uniform and disciplined way.  Like when we tell our kids “Have fun playing but don’t break any of the rules.”  It’s hard to have fun and not break rules.  Or at least that’s what Jacob tells me.

And so I appreciate this little slice of my life.  A place where I can retreat and write about things that interest me.  A place I can write in ways that interest me.  A place I can say things that interest me.  And maybe they’ll interest you too.

I came up with this new quote:  “There is no greater method of going insane than the unmitigated practice of sanity.”

I hope this made sense in some sort of nonsensical way.  But I’m okay if it didn’t.;)

Comments

[thebizofknowledge]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I face much the same dilemma as you do as I lead lives as an educator and a writer; on the one hand, I teach the rules of writing, and on the other, I routinely break them!