Searching self reflection
How honest are we with ourselves? I think that I am lost so much of the time that it is hard for me to really know who I am. How do you know when you know yourself? Maybe it is easier for others to know us?
I always thought I wanted to be a lawyer. I liked the idea of arguing on someone else's behalf, of representing someone, of being the voice for the voiceless. I thought that while many derided lawyers as scoundrels only interested in personal gain at the expense of the ordinary individual, the lawyer was also a person who represented people no matter what. They upheld one of the basic foundations of our system, that everyone is entitled to be heard in their own defense. I thought that if I were good enough, I could bring justice to a lot of people who the system had already cast aside. There seemed to me to be no shortage of great lawyers in history. Abraham Lincoln, M.K. Gandhi, Oliver Wendel Holmes, my personal favorite Clarence Darrow, and many others. These men were able to advance the cause of justice both inside and outside the courtroom, but they did so always through argument. Their complaint, in the paraphrased words of Job, was louder than their groaning. Words and ideas spelled out through argument have the power to change perception, to force action, to lead. This is what I thought I would do, maybe not on as grand a stage as those statesmen, but I wanted to make a necessary argument in the cause of justice.
However, lately I don't know what I want to do. I am of 2 minds about things, and there seems to be no mending of these minds of mine. Besides a career in the law, I have also thought of being a professor. I have many academic interests that go beyond what the law spells out. The narrowness of the law is often an annoyance to me. The whole process is full of so many hypotheticals and logical constructs that it can almost make your head spin. Nuts and bolts law is obviously less theoretical, but it is even more constrained. You can make every argument that you want, but at the end of the day the law is the law. Being a professor is far less limiting. You can study whatever you want. You are surrounded by all of these knowledgeable, interesting people that are as dorky as you are. You get to debate issues and ideas, but in a far less formal and consequential way. I don't know, it's hard. I love the myth of the law, but is that myth real? I think being a professor would be interesting and a lot of fun, but could I really work towards the cause of justice while a professor?
I guess it all comes down to what matters to you and what makes you happy. Follow your heart.
I always thought I wanted to be a lawyer. I liked the idea of arguing on someone else's behalf, of representing someone, of being the voice for the voiceless. I thought that while many derided lawyers as scoundrels only interested in personal gain at the expense of the ordinary individual, the lawyer was also a person who represented people no matter what. They upheld one of the basic foundations of our system, that everyone is entitled to be heard in their own defense. I thought that if I were good enough, I could bring justice to a lot of people who the system had already cast aside. There seemed to me to be no shortage of great lawyers in history. Abraham Lincoln, M.K. Gandhi, Oliver Wendel Holmes, my personal favorite Clarence Darrow, and many others. These men were able to advance the cause of justice both inside and outside the courtroom, but they did so always through argument. Their complaint, in the paraphrased words of Job, was louder than their groaning. Words and ideas spelled out through argument have the power to change perception, to force action, to lead. This is what I thought I would do, maybe not on as grand a stage as those statesmen, but I wanted to make a necessary argument in the cause of justice.
However, lately I don't know what I want to do. I am of 2 minds about things, and there seems to be no mending of these minds of mine. Besides a career in the law, I have also thought of being a professor. I have many academic interests that go beyond what the law spells out. The narrowness of the law is often an annoyance to me. The whole process is full of so many hypotheticals and logical constructs that it can almost make your head spin. Nuts and bolts law is obviously less theoretical, but it is even more constrained. You can make every argument that you want, but at the end of the day the law is the law. Being a professor is far less limiting. You can study whatever you want. You are surrounded by all of these knowledgeable, interesting people that are as dorky as you are. You get to debate issues and ideas, but in a far less formal and consequential way. I don't know, it's hard. I love the myth of the law, but is that myth real? I think being a professor would be interesting and a lot of fun, but could I really work towards the cause of justice while a professor?
I guess it all comes down to what matters to you and what makes you happy. Follow your heart.
posted by Tbone at
8:32 PM
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