Finding that Balance

As I was reading my contracts coursebook today, there were some cases about parties not knowing what the paperwork that they were signing. As I was reading the cases, all I could think about was all the contracts in my life that I've signed without reading the fine print. You can practically sign away your life without knowing it; which is what must have happened when I signed the dotted line to go to law school.

I kid though, because more or less, I did know how much work I was getting myself into. Did I think that my kitchen table pre-first day of class would look like my kitchen table during finals week at UCLA? Maybe not but at least it's enjoyable (well, so far it is, ask me again in a few weeks or even days).

And despite all the reading and case briefing that I did today, I managed to get my head out of the books. After having a lovely 1.25 mile stroll this morning through cute DC neighborhoods, I arrived at church. Though most of the mass was very "old school" (read: a little boring) in the huge marble cathedral like building, there was a really good homily about replenishment. Basically, the priest was talking about how when he was in college, there would be people who would go around and do so many things that anything not productive seemed like a waste of time. Sound familiar? Well, he sensed that these people, mostly RAs in his building, were on the verge of meltdown so he took them out to pizza regularly so that they would have an inexpensive family style meal and reconnect with other people. Breaking bread, the priest said, was a way to reconnect with humanity, not just a form of substance. That was a nice little reminder before my first day of law school.

So in the spirit of the homily, I tried to strike a balance between the productive things I had to do, like all my reading, and other things. After church I sat on a bench for almost an hour enjoying the American University campus (ok, I was waiting for the bookstore to open but it felt nice to be out). I took a break from reading to watch Project Runway, ate dinner with my roommate, and went to the gym. Yeah, it's only day -1 of law school but I'm hoping that this will be a good start.