Transitions

Some supplements to the law school story that I found interesting:

Shortcut to being a lawyer?  Don't go to law school.

AND

The sameness of legal life

The first is about a man's lawsuit to trying to be able to take the bar without law school, and if Planet Law School is legit at all, then there's some truth to the fact that we aren't allowed to take the bar without law school because it's possible that people would pass it without law school (thereby rendering law school potentially useless...or at least less useful than supposed).

The second tells the story of the always-talked-about dilemma law school can and does present - that is, keeping your originality and values intact whilst chasing the legal "dream."  It almost exactly articulates all the things I've been afraid of.

Other than that, been thinking a lot about where my life is going to go in the next couple of years.  Namely, how I'm going to stay progressive.

There are so many questions about what it means to be "Progressive," as in there are a lot of people who identify themselves as such, but these people can differ from each other in significant ways.  I used to have a very narrowly defined version of the ideological concept in college and spurn those "faux" progressives who tried to get in on the action, but have found my definition has expanded considerably, and is now a lot more inclusive these days.

Can I still be a progressive if I work for a company, nonprofit, organization, group etc. that doesn't necessarily follow those ideals?

What if I have friends or social circles that are not progressive?

Can I still carry those values with me, subtly practice them in some way everyday and still be considered a progressive?

Am I even effecting change if I am doing things this way, and if I feel like I am not effecting change, how does that influence my progressivism?

Are there some minimum hours required to be dedicated to activism or advocacy or organizing to qualify as a progressive?  What about minimum levels of education or knowledge on these matters?  (i.e. to be a progressive, you need to understand/know how to direct action organize)

Of course I don't think that all of these have to be answered a particular way to be right or wrong, and I would never now try and dictate how someone identifies (who am I, the empress of progressivism??), but I guess there's a level of dissatisfaction internally with the way things are right now because I don't necessarily consider them ideal (for myself).  And yet, even with that dissatisfaction, for the time being I have come to terms with the situation because I don't have a whole lot of options at the moment.

Content dissatisfaction?  Does that even make sense?

Anyway, something along those lines.  A lot of times I miss the fervor and the enthusiasm with which campus organizing often is executed, but having moved forward in a particular way since then, I don't think that exact environment is for me anymore.  Something like it, maybe, but with some real life adjustments.

I guess as long as I continue to make the effort to surround myself with the right people and involve myself in the right spaces, I'll never lose it, at least not completely.  It all will be what I make of it, I realize that...I just am very aware of the constant push and pull that happens between my internal idealistic needs, and my real time, real life situations.

It's a big part of why, humbly, I want to make the skeleton of Malcolm X's story my own.  If that makes any sense to you, you win.