About ART

This blog is about writing, sharing, and making myself accountable to myself. The blog is for this year in particular, because this year is dedicated to my decision - hope, intent, expectation - to become a full-time writer, and leave the law behind. Well, it will never be completely gone. (You can take me out of the law, but you can't take the law out of me.) Still, my passion and calling is the writing now, not the lawyering anymore. Maybe my writing will end up being about justice. It often is. Whichever way, it's time to make the writing happen, full scale.

I'm choosing today as the blog's official beginning because it is the day after the inauguration of now-President Barack Obama. Yesterday marked the end of a chapter in my life, as I volunteered for the Obama campaign all last year. That makes today the day for beginnings. (It's like Semisonic's Closing Time song: "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.") (a line which first came from ancient-Rome philosopher Seneca, it seems.)

I didn't go to the inauguration itself, though I did get access to tickets at the last minute. I kept thinking, and said a few times aloud, it's like the difference between the wedding and the marriage. I'm more interested in how the marriage unfolds. Though I'm awfully glad that people took time to create ceremony. What's weird is, there were many moments yesterday that resembled a wedding reception. Weren't there? My favorite part of the day (other than Obama's speech, which I loved and can't quite figure out why some pundits had to pan it) was when Obama interrupted the Chief Justice at the beginning of the oath, which in turn threw the Chief into his own misstep. I laughed and thought, well, Barack just wants to get this over, and get started on the speech, doesn't he? And on the work. Always, the work....

I do expect the blog to include a daily entry of my "free writes" (explained in another entry). I do expect the blog to contain other writings of mine as well as references to other people's writing. And I do expect the blog to include a segment called "Spirit of Service" - a line from Obama's speech yesterday - where I hope to highlight people's efforts around the country to manifest this call to action we heard yesterday - where we work to help each other. I want to honor those who work so hard to make a difference, often in anonymity. So tell me your stories, people. Tell me your stories. Let's give voice to this new process, and make it happen. I know we can.