Pragmatism... Blah

I have always taken a little pride in what I consider to be my unique combination of dreamy optimism, clear-eyed pragmatism, and whimsy.

My inner pragmatist convinced me to get an economics degree in college, though my inner optimist added a masters' degree in public policy in the hopes that I would choose public servant over banker.... Of course, the whimsy in me ditched the whole thing for motherhood (thankfully, before the economy demanded it).... at least for now.....

Except that once again my inner optimist has added her own spin to my most recent life choice, demanding that I pursue writing now, while I'm home with my kids.... perhaps Whimsy and Optimism have teamed up to lead me down the creative path that I should have started earlier....

Anyway, my poor inner pragmatist rears her head all too frequently. Especially during this editing phase. "Why bother?" she scoffs. "What a waste.... a new episode of Lost is on!" she teases.

And sometimes I give in.

On public radio this morning I listened to a bit of an interview with Leonard Bertein's daughter, who was reflecting on his creations. She said he frequently had to fight back his own inner pragmatist, knowing that being overly rational or pragmatic would force him to put his pen down.

Sometimes, knowing others have fought and won the battle before me makes it easier to fight that Pragmatist... though I'm still not sure what to do with her evil step-sister Sloth...

Off I go then.... :)