Lana Maryé Morelli

  I had just completed my first year of law school and I was clerking for a judge during my “Summer 1” (as the law students call it) .   I should have been enjoying my time off from class but I didn’t feel happy.   At lunchtime, I should have been rubbing elbows with the higher ups, networking and learning the politics of the courthouse.   Instead, I sat in the giant window in the Judges Chambers with my salad, scribbling away furiously in a pink legal pad.   I knew at Christmas of that year that I wasn’t happy in law school, but I kept pushing to make it fit.   Instead of gloating about the coveted clerkship I was privileged to obtain, I was writing, trying to organize my feelings on returning to law school for a second year. Whenever I come to a crossroads in my life, I like to make a list of pro’s and con’s. Sounds kind of silly, that a list could help me make decisions, but my gut seemed to be confused and as hard as I looked for Jiminy Cricket, h...

The fountain of youth may be a myth but the secret to happiness is said to be found when you “follow your heart.” The problem however, is that your heart is an organ in your chest, it beats and pumps blood. This heart cannot be the one they are talking about. The heart we should follow must be the theoretical heart. That’s the one that you draw on notebooks when your in elementary school referencing your first crush; The heart that accompanies your signature on the bottom of greeting cards on birthdays and holidays; The heart that as you get into your teenage years, your wanted NOT to wear on the sleeve! The same heart people are referencing when they advise you to think with your head before your heart. A thinking heart? Now, this is where things get complicated… You see, the older we get the more we’re cautioned to handle our hearts with care. BUT WAIT...How are we supposed to use caution with our heart and simultaneously be thinking with it and following it? There are just too may c...