Preliminary Investigation: Investigate your psyche

We should set aside a room, just for ourselves, at the back of the shop, keeping it entirely free and establishing there our true liberty, our principal solitude and asylum…We have a soul able to turn in on herself; she can keep herself company; she has the wherewithal to attack, to defend, to receive and to give. – Montaigne, On Solitude

(What? You saw this quote here a few days ago? Yeah, I know but it’s  great and apropos. So here it is again.)

No matter how many friends and relatives you have on your side, you are to an extent facing this lawsuit alone.

Because I am by nature a loner, I’m perfectly constructed to be a plaintiff. We loners have great strengths, are strong-minded and not easily swayed by the negative opinion of others. I can’t make you a loner if you’re not one naturally, but I can loan you some of my strengths as we go along.

First, take a penetrating look into yourself. Analyze your character neutrally: you have anxieties, buried rages and quirks that live alongside your emotional assets, brains, humor. If you’re a woman, you’re about to behave in a way that women are, for the most part, trained from childhood not to behave – expressing anger and asserting that anger productively.

You’ve determined that a lawsuit is the right and moral thing to do. Be proud, believe in it and yourself. Doing this for yourself is going to be great for your self-esteem. What’s the alternative, anyway? Relinquishing your rights? That will lead only to depression and hopelessness.

Yes, suing might turn out to be discomforting. But it can also be greatly liberating and heroic. Think of yourself as Rosa Parks or John Thomas Scopes (who was found criminally guilty of defying a Tennessee law by teaching evolution).

Hang in. As I take you step by step through the process of your lawsuit, you’ll discover that simply knowing what will happen will reduce your anxiety considerably.

So get your lawsuit information together. Get yourself together. Get your life together and get on with both your lawsuit and your life. What’s happens now will be a fascinating avocation: your lawsuit is about to become your wonderfully interesting, volunteer part-time job. Don’t let it become your entire job, your entire life. If you’re in physical shape to earn a living and still have a job, keep on working and earning.

If your lawsuit is your a-vocation, you’ll need a-vacations from it. So go to movies, watch TV, read books, play Monopoly, take long walks, bake cupcakes, do yoga. Meditate.

We have a soul able to turn in on herself; she can keep herself company; she has the wherewithal to attack, to defend, to receive and to give.

Yes.  Now you’re ready to find a lawyer.

This entry was posted in The Facts of Life and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.