Likely To Get Into Trouble
Posted: Sunday, September 11, 2011
by Jean Horst
I've been thinking about getting into trouble. (That sentence is going to scare my husband.) I used to get into trouble all the time but I've gotten better at controlling myself as I've gotten older and gotten responsibilities, so it rarely happens anymore. I think maybe I miss it.
I'll clarify some: by most folks standards I never got into "TROUBLE", I just got into "Trouble". Largely it was a product of my environment (that's my story and I'm sticking with it!). I grew up in a very religiously strict group where women should be seen and not heard, should be content to smile serenely, get married placidly and quietly raise well-behaved children.
I'm not writing to complain or vent any particular bitterness. On the contrary, I'm pretty proud of the debating skills that I honed then and the wisdom I learned along the way. I did get married and raise fabulous children but I also learned many battles are not worth fighting. Sometimes you just have to leave people to wallow in their own prejudices and narrow worlds. Many of them are there because they want to be. It's a comforting cloud of superiority that they clutch over their eyes quite deliberately. No, I'm writing this because I've been thinking maybe I should start getting into trouble more often.
Several weeks ago, my sweet internet friend, Brianna Popsickle, wrote a passing comment about "women I’d love to have a girls night out with (and would not be responsible for whatever trouble we got into)". I thought, "pick me, pick me"! From that little spark and a few more exchanges, evolved a SearchWarp group, "Women Most Likely to Get Into Trouble". Of course, that moniker is tongue-in-cheek but I'd like to see what some really sharp, intelligent women could do if they made a little trouble. Nothing illegal (well, not REALLY illegal) just the kind that makes people stop and take stock of things.
I'm of that "certain age" women get to where they start looking at time as a commodity to be used with precision and planning, not squandered recklessly like it will never run out. So I am contemplating Trouble as something to be used with precision as well. Not just any trouble, the kind of trouble that effects change, the kind of trouble historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich was referring to when she wrote her famous line, "Well-behaved women seldom make history".
For some reason, cultures for millennia have revered that well-behaved woman who functioned inside the box of madonna-like behavior but only rewarded them with obscurity. Those women who genuinely shaped culture and history were functioning well outside of the defined tenets of acceptable behavior for their day; Marie Curie, Rosa Parks, Florence Nightingale, Harriet Tubman, Jane Austen, Susan B. Anthony, Golda Meir, Sally Ride, Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc, etc, etc, etc. Those women were TROUBLE. I don't even begin to pretend that I can attain those lofty heights. One can only dream. But what a dream it is; to be counted in the company of women who brought great good into the world sometimes by a lifetime of work, sometimes by one single act on a single day, always by getting into "Trouble".
So, yeah, maybe one of these days it'll be time to get into trouble again. Who's with me?
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)I'm am jumping in feet first! I, too, asked a lot of questions, and picked up on the "answers" rather quickly. I love to get into some trouble, and I love to make people think or see something from a completely different perspective.Come on in, the water's fine!!
After reading , I think I would like to get into trouble as well because it ain't a bad thing though I supposed. Rather, women who are prone to getting themselves into trouble are quite smart and sophisticated in their own way. (lol)Thanks for your comments, Hilda! Sometimes trouble just found me... ;)
I was raised a Catholic girl but unlike you, I was quiet and serene and did everything I was told or expected to do usually without question. But I've encouraged my children to live differently, to make choices based on what they want, not what they think we want for them. If it means getting into trouble sometimes so be it! Life is short. Who's with ya Jean? I am. :) GREAT article.Brianna! My partner in crime. You know what they say, it's the quiet ones you've got to watch. I've learned living with Bruce all these years it is certainly true. I bet you'll make so trouble yet! LOL
I asked many questions but was (then) kind of shy.... imagine that!Seriously? Just kidding, thanks for reading Marijo.
Hi Jean- I'm glad that you wrote this article- specifying what kind of trouble you had in mind. I didn't join that group at first because I didn't figure I could get into too much trouble anymore (I was wrong of course, since I'm usually in some kind of trouble anyway with my loud-plain-spoken Texas mouth) Upon reading your article, I find that this group is tailor-made for me. How do I join it now that I've already joined 3 others? Sounds like a lot of fun that's right down my particular alley....Ella! You seem like the perfect person for this group. I think, though, you have to leave another group to join... You can get into trouble with me any time.
am I the first guy to comment? my, my. Thanks for sharing. As my dad used to always tell me..."Stay out of trouble."Hmmmm, did his advice work?My dad used to tell me, with a twinkle in his eye, "if you want to do something that you know you probably shouldn't, do before you ask! At least then even if you do get into trouble you'll have had the experience". Of course he added "and always tell the truth afterwards".
I'm with you all the way, Jean!! I think this is the most interesting group on SW. Here's the thing I've found: if you never get into trouble of any sort it means you're never taking any risks. I can't imagine a life of playing by all the rules all the time. People say it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I think it's better to have lived and gotten into a bit of trouble now and then than never to have lived at all! Of course this is the perspective of a renegade ex-Catholic...
Apart from the humor, though, this is such a beautiful article, thanks :)Ah! Well said, Jennifer. I actually started out with the intention of writing a humorous piece about getting into trouble and found there was a different story to tell, so I let the piece write itself and just sort of followed where it went. Thanks so much for reading and your lovely comment. I have a great deal of respect for "renegade ex-Catholic"s.
Hi Jean.
Trouble just seemed to find me. :) I did try to be good, but it just wasn't in me. As a child, I couldn't seem to help pushing the limits. As an adult, though, I think I've become a bit staid ... maybe only in my head. :) I don't really like to rock the boat, but I still seem to do so anyhow. I don't know ... maybe that's my purpose in life.
When I first saw the Group title, I wanted to join. But I'd already given my allegiance to three groups. Maybe I'll have to rethink one of them.
I really enjoyed your article.
Hugs,
DianneYeah, one day it dawned on me, I should just stop trying to stay out of trouble and just go with the flow.
Thanks for your thoughts!
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