“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. ”
–Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell was a mentor to George Lucas. The book The Hero with a Thousand Faces inspired Lucas’ Star Wars films. Campbell studied the myths found in the stories of various cultures. Campbell’s favorite saying was: “follow your bliss.”
What Campbell meant by this was that a person should follow their heart’s desire. In this context, desire is not to be confused with pleasure. Pleasure seeking does not lead to happiness. It simply results in grasping for more. Campbell said that when you follow your bliss, doors will open, help will come, things will be possible.
As a divorce attorney in Clearwater, Florida, I’ve come to understand that every person has a story. Listening to a client tell his or her story is an important aspect of representation. A person’s story reveals much about the person, including the person’s values and how the person perceives his or her self.
When I act as an advocate for a client, I take on the role of telling my client’s story. How a story is told, where the emphasis is placed, where the nuances are explained, are aspects of the attorney’s art. The art of the story is implemented at every stage of representation, including the initial discussions between counsel, during the discovery process, at mediation, and, lastly, during the trial. It is at this last stage that the lawyer must actually present evidence and prove the story.
by Patrick Gaffney
