It's Gonna Get Crazy

It's about to get crazy and it needs to so I can get better. This blog is going to be a place where I stretch to new places, try new things and get my creative juices flowing so I can be a better story-teller...and in return, a better trial lawyer. And I plan to talk like a person when I'm in trial...not a wanna-be-hoitey-toity lawyer who talks over everyone's head. There really isn't a better place to practice than here. Here's my wanna-be-smarty-pants daughter...

As a lawyer, my job always involves telling other people's stories. Snippets of their stories are a little part of everyone's story at one time or another...times where we feel depressed, hopeless, alone. When I'm trying to get ready for trial and trying to digest my client's story...I sit and think about the dialogue that comes from within them all day long. I try to put myself in their shoes. I imagine what they would think about. I pretend to be them in the silence of my car as I drive and talk to myself aloud...trying to feel like what it's like to be them. I try to understand why they do what they do. How they came to certain decisions. How they got to me. I realize that lately I'm having trouble bringing the stories to life.

Sometimes I think to myself....can I really say that with a straight face?!? At the very least, I know I can tell my own stories. Fun times with my kids, moments that take my breath away, how I look at things and how I feel about them. So, on this blog I can practice doing just that. Telling the stories that I know so well. And using the incredible images my husband snaps with his camera to go along for the ride.

So I'm trying something new. I'm writing from my heart. Talking from my soul. Not antagonizing myself with does this sound right? Do I really want people to see this? I could say this better. Forget hitting backspace, delete, cut and paste, etc. etc. I'm just gonna do it. Jump right in and try saying things in new ways. I sound like I'm on heavy meds, huh? Well, tonight I am. But that's not my excuse. It instead will be my commitment.

And with this commitment, I'm going to be a rule breaker. When I think about trial strategy, the rules of evidence and procedure are the last things that come to mind. They get in the way of a good story. Likewise, punctuation and proper spelling do to. For me to really go with it, I have to put that aside. Let myself screw it up. Start sentences with and. And not worry about it.

It's time to exercise my mind. Time to stretch to new places, out of reach...farther than what I can see. I need to be sharp. I need to see what works. So this blog can be my sounding board. Even if I mess it up, my husband's incredible pictures will be here for you to see. Maybe he'll stretch a little too. Maybe we'll just surprise you with all kinds of stuff that makes no sense. Oh well, here it goes. We're opening new doors, baby! And I'll take another shot of that dilaudid...I need to relax and get going with the flow.