THERE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A SCRIPT

'Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who's gonna hang a name on you?'
There doesn't have to be a script
But we all learn that there is one
It's writ large on our daily routines
Our attitudes and our behaviours
It follows our every move
It brings order and routine to our lives
It provides a framework
It informs what is possible
And what is not possible
But it is deeply constraining
"You must take the stage now
You must act like this
You must speak to him
You mustn't speak to her
You must say this
You mustn't say that
You must talk like this
You must leave the stage now
You must reappear later"
These are the commands of the script
The script cannot be denied
The script delineates the limits of prescribed actions
Now the world would certainly be a messy place without a script
But maybe once in a while
It's good to take it out, dust it off and reread it
Maybe the old script is out of date
Maybe it's time to revise it
Maybe it's time to tear it up completely and start again
Perhaps hunched over a typewriter at a desk
Scrunching the imperfect drafts into a ball
And throwing them into the waste paper basket in the corner
Another question worth asking might be:
Who wrote the script?
Someone I love or respect?
Or someone who doesn't have my best interests at heart?
Maybe it's time I wrote my own script
And got my agent to hawk it around the publishers
Or maybe I should just self-publish it on this here blog!

[Thanks to JH]