THINKING TOO PRECISELY ON THE EVENT~ HAMLET

Awhile back my daughter and I were having a discussion about leading “the life unexamined.”     More precisely, we were talking about how her father’s side of the family tended to prefer not to “poke around under the hood” too much.    Their modus operandi seemed to be “if I don’t think or talk about it, it will somehow all work itself out.”



We knew this isn’t a healthy approach, but we were also bemoaning the fact that she, her brother and I tend to go to the other extreme; we over analyze everything, down to an order for lunch.     In some ways, we envied people who just float through life, never questioning anything.    It must be so freeing.    Because, our way is exhausting, trust me.    There’s got to be a middle ground—you can’t tap dance around never delving deeper into issues, but you really shouldn’t tie yourself up in knots either…


I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember.     And I know it’s my mother’s fault. She raised all 4 of us to listen to all the information and reason out for ourselves how we felt about things.     That was pretty brave of her—she raised 4 teens in the 60s and lived to tell the tale.


I wasn’t a deliberate troublemaker as a kid, I was just used to being able to think for myself and express my viewpoints.    That didn’t go over too well in Catholic school in the 1960s.     I had a hard time understanding the point of some of the rules and wanted explanations—which, according to the teachers I wasn’t supposed to ask for.    I never took what they were teaching in Religion class at face value—I always wanted to know why.     Drove the nuns nuts I’m sure.     Good little Catholic school children were supposed to just be quiet and think the way the nuns wanted you to.



I find I still tend to question the protocol.    Very bad in Corporate America; you’re supposed to follow the “processes.”     I get frustrated, because I usually feel that’s too black and white.      Each situation needs to have its particular nuances addressed.






I know any day now that ruler is gonna come down on my knuckles again……