When I was in first grade, we were learning to write. We began by drawing straight vertical lines on our first grade ruled paper, the kind with two solid lines for the top and bottom of capital letters, and a dashed line in the center, so we could make lower case letters with uniform heights. The teacher came by and turned my paper so the lines were perpendicular to me. She said, “no wonder your lines are slanted,” and told me I should keep my paper straight. I tried that for a while, but it was very uncomfortable for me to write with the paper at that angle. So, I turned it back to the 40-degree angle I had it at before, and just made sure the lines were vertical, not slanted. I don’t know if she ever noticed that I still turned my paper to write for the rest of the year, but as long as my letters were the way she liked, she seemed happy with my writing, and I could continue to write comfortably.

Sometimes, I think I live life at a 40-degree angle. Sometimes, people try to correct me, but eventually give up. As long as I look vertical, they seem happy.