50 Questions: 1-10

Quiz taken from “Fifty Questions That Will Free Your Mind” via Fug Girl Heather Cocks. Some questions seem a little Deeply in Earnest, but let’s give it a try anyway.

1. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were? Probably about 19. I think I’m going to feel like a baby grownup for the rest of my life.

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying? The “right” answer is “never trying,” but you know what, that’s BS, because sometimes failing really, really hurts. And sometimes that can be way worse than not trying. No, not always, but sometimes. It’s okay to occasionally give yourself a break and not try, and anybody who says different is either a Pollyanna or a drill instructor.

3. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? Those are lovely aphorisms, but this short life is full of practicalities. Teeth need to be flossed. Garbage needs to be taken out.

Anyway, though, when what you like is mixed in with what you don’t like, you appreciate the good stuff more. That’s why there are yellow Starburst.

4. When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done? Yes. I run my mouth.

5. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world? People’s unwillingness to look through each other’s eyes.

6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? Some fancy things. International-luxury-spa reviewing! But also a lot of mundane things. Baking. Babysitting. Retail. And, actually, a lot of what I get paid to do right now. Writing. Event planning. Website geekery. Such-like things.

7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? What I do isn’t saving the world, but I do think what I do helps people save lives, and I believe in that. And no, I haven’t settled for it. I’ve repeatedly chosen and re-chosen my industry and my line of work. I don’t think it’s the only career that matters, but it’s what fits me and I love it.

8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently? According to Math, that would make me 85% of the way to dead, instead of about 44%. So I’d be less worried about setting up my life and more worried about checking off a last few things from my bucket list.

9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken? My immediate reaction was along the lines of COMPLETELY OF COURSE DON’T BE SILLY. But really, of course nobody can say that, can they – and, actually, how boring would it be if you could?

I do think I’m maybe-unreasonably proud of the degree to which I’ve controlled the course of my life. I’ve made choices I was scared of, I’ve made choices that hurt, I’ve changed my mind and handled the consequences, I’ve been put into hard situations and beaten them, and yeah, I’m probably prouder of all that than it’s polite to be.

10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things? Again, the “right” answer would be the latter, but frankly, on a day-to-day basis, I let that go to auto-pilot and I fuss more about trying to do things properly. I sweat the small stuff.