Joyful Jamming 3/19/09

If they give you ruled paper write the other way.

Juan Jiminez
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Fancy meeting you here.
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There is a difference between laws and rules. Part of wisdom is knowing the difference, There are civil laws and natural laws. If we disobey the civil laws, there will be chaos in the streets. If we disobeyed the natural laws, the beans won't grow. Some rules are also laws, but other rules are nothing more than habits.

"This is the way to do it," "Why?" "Because we've always done it this way." "Why?" "Because this is the best way to do it." "Have you ever done it any other way?" "No." "Then how do you know it's the best way?"

There are some rules we have to follow. When filling out our U. S. income tax form we have to put the proper information in the proper box or the IRS gets very uppity.

In the arts the rules are broken all the time, thank goodness. I know I wrote about one of my favorite directors, Charlie Hensley, who came into rehearsal one day with a button which read "There are no rules." When I saw that I knew it was going to be a good, productive rehearsal session, which it was. We wrote our own rules.

Arts are not the only place where ignoring and rewriting of rules can take place. Science, business, sports and education are some areas where writing a different way on the ruled paper gets results.

Of course, we have to know the rules before we can break them. My Uncle Harold Cole loved playing baseball when he was young. He carried a rule book in his pocket whenever he played. When there was a dispute about a play, he could take out the book and settle it. He went on to become a scout and coach for a Major League team.

Rules will get changed or discarded when they become useless, out of fashion or improved upon. But we will never know if they become old unless we challenge the use of them and think up a better way of doing things. Writing the wrong way on the paper may not yield good results but it says that you are not being led around by the finger and following the trail of the ordinary everyday traveler.

Don't mistake rules for laws. Follow the rules you choose to follow, otherwise write your own. They may call you eccentric, paradoxical and unorthodox. So what? That's what they call me. And it doesn't hurt.

DB
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Spring is coming. Hold your breathe.
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