Green Light Go!

Sometimes I forget that there are no rules in life.  

I mean, we have self imposed rules to help society move along.  But, those are there to help with safety and structure.  And there’s morality - I get that.  But there’s no real rulebook about how to live life.

Some of the rules we place upon ourselves are kind of silly too.  I work at a school, and everyone’s controlled by a funky sounding bell.  When the bell rings (a random loud noise) - all the class doors open and there’s tons of movement.  When it rings again, everyone is in their classrooms.  How strange is that?  It’s so normal to us that we might not think it’s strange - but think of it.  A bell.  Ding Dong.  Movement.

I observed this walking to class the other day.  Everything was silent as I was walking and then the bell rang.  A second later kids poured out of the doors and into the hallways.  It almost felt like chaos - noise, voices, movement - everywhere.  Five minutes later, the bell rang a second time and the halls were silent once again.  

I understand that there are consequences for not following these simple rules (tardy, late slips, detention), but it’s still control by a loud noise.  A loud noise determines behavior.  Strange.  And kind of funny.

But that’s school.  We don’t do this in real life, do we?  

Well - actually yes.  Our society is controlled by lights.  Lights!  Green light go.  Yellow light slow.  Red light stop.  Over and over again.  And thousands of people follow these rules.  And there are lines on the roads that we stay inside.  I get the rules - the lines - the lights - but isn’t it a bit weird?  Who determined that green was go and red was stop?  It even gets stranger if we were to travel to Europe because everyone drives on the wrong side of the road!  Well, they’d think we’re weird too - but still.

We create rules and structure to feel safe.  But some rules seem silly.

I think I do this in my normal life too.  I do what I’m “supposed” to do - stay within society’s norms and try not to look too weird.  Don’t get me wrong - there’s some good things about that - but I forget that there really aren’t any rules.  I could move across the country if I want to.  I can do whatever I want to with my life (within reason).  There aren’t any limits other than the ones that I place upon myself.

I’ve been thinking about that lately - what “rules” I place upon myself that end up being like a prison (of creativity, imagination, dreams - all of it.)  I don’t think outside of the box enough.  I don’t even know how to think outside of the box most days??  

But I know I’m limited.  Hmmm...

Hope your day is great!

Jer