I am presently listening to a book on tape, The Zen of the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence, and I will say up front that the following is less of an original idea on my part, but instead an application of the ideas of the book to my own life and to my own small view of the world.
One of the central considerations of the book is the question, "what is quality?" I assure you that the answer is less simple than you think. Although we can all recognize quality, it is nearly impossible to define it. I will not consume your time here attempting to write what will inevitably be a haphazard and inartful rehashing of the job the book does of considering this question. Instead I will simply say that quality is the abstract valuation we all give to something that makes it "good" for lack of a better term.
The book asserts that a big part of producing something of quality has to do with caring. Inherent in doing a good job, producing something of quality has to do with caring about what you are producing as well as the process itself. This idea brings me to my present situation.
As I listened to this book, I considered law school, my career even. After considering this for a while, I think the inherent problem with law school and jobs etc. is that for most of us the quality of our work the caring about the work is in fact secondary. My primary concern is not the "quality" of my law school work, but rather my quality of life. Granted, I am not just speaking about income, but rather about the understanding and education that school brings.
Comments