obstacles along life's way

When I was in first grade I got this message : don't use stick figures, don't copy, use your imagination to make things you know are there but can't see-- I was reminded of that this morning. I'm sure it's helped through the years - giving me a counterweight to the (what I had then when I was small) intense drive to mimic and fit in. Now of course I mimic to parody and fit in (if at all) with a sense of dis-ease - that is, I don't fit in, even when playing by the rules. At some point, I figure everything out - I just do, which usually irritates the people in charge of the rules.
There's a parable in the synoptics, which speaks of the pharisees (the people in charge of the rules) as standing in the way: they don't go in themselves and are obstacles to others who want to go in. I think of it as people who get in the passing lane but don't go any faster - with some sense that perhaps they're enforcing the speed limit for everyone else.
When possible, go where you're going, dispensing with the gatekeepers when possible. The law always is at the service of gatekeepers ; grace, not so much.