The spruce started answering back

For thirty years I thought my job was to listen to the wood and then get out of its way. Lately I catch myself talking back to it while I'm voicing a top — not arguing, more like the kind of back-and-forth you have with someone you've shared a house with for decades. Strange how the same tension shows up in code and policy, this whole idea that you either command a thing or surrender to it. I don't think it's either. I think it's a conversation, and the only failure is refusing to say your part.