in search of equilibrium

The law without remedies would be a vain thing.  Winning a lawsuit would be an ephemeral victory if it didn't result in money damages, an injunction, or declaration of some sort.

Still, I can't say that Remedies is going to be a favorite law school topic for me.  The professor is good-he knows the material, he artfully facilitates discussion and provokes a deeper or alternative look at the topic under consideration.  But I find the prevalence of insurance interests maddening, with no real solution on the horizon.  Insurance companies are the 'repeat' customers in the world of personal injury, and they have the most at stake.  They in turn do their best to influence legislators, who are not immune to persuasion.

A long term view of things would see the pendulum swings within the law, as in any area of our human experience.  But I have only this life to live, and no opportunity to see the next swing of the pendulum.  And I regret the direction it's going in this particular lifetime.

my side of the elephant

Just saw a discussion of a study that showed that expressing gratitude tends to increase a person's feeling of happiness.  I'm not sure happiness is exactly what I'm reaching for, but my sense is that an attitude of appreciation and gratitude changes how I view the moment.  Which changes the moment in my perception.  And just like the blind men who experienced an elephant in different ways, my experience is all I know.

So, gratitude.  The texture over which my fingers glide is life, full and fascinating.  My elephant is beautiful.

great expectations

Bearding the dragon in its lair leads to the expectation that you can do it again.  Never mind that it was sleight of hand, or luck, or god knows what, that made them think you could.  Just do it again.  Because yesterday is meaningless unless it is the harbinger of today, and tomorrow.

I hear the bell

Weariness.  Bone aching, drained of energy to do the next thing, even it's just going to the bathroom.  Fortunately, the thing, that thing that has knocked me on my ass, eventually loses its power to terrify me.  It either becomes the new reality, or it goes away, most often slipping quietly away when I have my head turned.  Only rarely does it bow out with a crescendo and a sense of completion.  But the fact remains that what I see today is not what I saw last week or last month.

Inexplicably, trudging turns into skipping and twirling, and back again to a zombie like pace.  The finish line keeps morphing into something else, because when are we ever finished?

I don't know why we do it, but my guess is that the moments of pure delight provide the motivation to seek out more of them.  Pavlov's dogs had something after all.

I know which way the oxen go

The best thing in life is to have a grand adventure.  Or maybe 3 or a dozen or hundreds if you can manage it.  I'd like to say I find each day to be such a thrill, but that would be an overstatement at the very least.  Some days are humdrum and just to be borne.  But to go to a place or space I've never been, to see and hear and taste things I've not experienced before, that is a thrill of which I have not yet tired.

Law school is just this kind of thing, most days.  This, the final year, commences tomorrow.  If you read this blog often, you will no doubt tire of my observations about post-law school life.  I fear it will not measure up, at least on its own.

This year is Business Organizations, and Remedies.  And then the Bar.  After that I shall just follow the oxen.