Tag: dailyprompt

How are you creative?

This one is interesting.

I write, though it’s mostly professional and philosophical at this point. I don’t know if that would be considered creativity. I mean, yes, it is creating something, but i generally associate being creative with art, and I don’t consider professional or philosophical writing to be art.

Art, to me, has to have some sort of emotional significance or impact. I suppose some of my writing has met that criteria, though. I have used both writing and drawing to to communicate emotion. So, back in the day, that’s how I was creative.

Now? I basically solve problems for a living, and that sometimes requires some creative thinking to come up with effective solutions, but again, it is done in a professional or functional capacity, and so doesn’t fit into my definition of art.

I don’t think I would consider myself to be creative in a traditional, artistic sense anymore, though I used to be. If we’re talking about “analytical creativity”, then yeah, pretty much everything I do is creative, but that’s more of a critical thinking type thing. That’s not really creativity.

I don’t know. This is a lot of words to basically say, “I’m not.” My brain is in overdrive right now from too much studying, and I think it’s starting to malfunction. And for that, I apologize.

Thank you for tolerating my nonsense, and have a good night!

Share what you know about the year you were born.

Well, depends on what you’re asking,

What do I know about the world or world events from the year I was born? Not much. Ronald Reagan was president. East and West Berlin were still in existence.

What do I know about events of my life from that year? Plenty. My mother was in hard labor for 39 hours straight to bring me into the world. (This is a fact that was drilled into my head, especially if I was being difficult!) The first time my father held me, I fit perfectly on one arm, and that amazed him. I slept through a couple of flights on a C5, which, as I was told, was basically a miracle once, not to mention multiple times. In the words of my father, all I did for the first half of the year was “eat, sleep, and shit”. I had a scream that could wake the dead, supposedly. My first word was “shit”. I was walking at about 10 months. I had my first taste of bourbon at my first birthday party – the adults thought it adorable that I wobbled around on my unsteady legs visiting people and would have a sip of a random drink, make a face, squeal at them, laugh, and go teetering off to visit the next guest.

So yeah, that’s what I know about the year I was born.

List your top 5 grocery store items.

Yogurt

Cottage cheese (but not for me – can’t stand the texture!)

Half and half

Coffee

Agave

Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.

This one is potentially very easy, especially as a grown-ass “daddy’s girl”, but I’m not going to do that. I’m not even going to go for the almost equally easy answer of “my husband”. For this prompt, I am going to describe my mentor.

He’s a good guy in general, though because of his position in business, he sometimes has to be a hard ass. He even sometimes pretends that he is a flat out asshole. There were times early on that I would have agreed with that assessment, but I know better now. He is a good man, but not always a nice man. There is a distinct difference, and I would rather deal with a good person than a nice person if I had to choose between the two.

He is smart – he knows his shit about his job and his industry. Is he a genius? No, but most people aren’t. We can’t all be Einstein or Hawking or Da Vinci. The key thing about this is that he knows he doesn’t know everything and actually strives to surround himself with people who know more than he does, so that he can learn from them and build an effective, successful team.

He is fair and generous but also has an immense amount of backbone. He stands up for himself, and for others. He values the loyalty of his team, and reciprocates that loyalty. He admits when he is wrong, and will sincerely apologize if he steps out of line. He is genuine.

I have learned a great deal from him, professionally and personally. He has taught me things that were sometimes a bit painful to learn, but that I believe have helped to make me a better person and more effective professional. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

Not at all.

As a general rule, I have gotten to a point where I have accepted that life generally happens regardless of the dreams and plans we have for the future. Yes, those dreams can still happen if you put the work in, but the timeline is not at all certain. I don’t usually think about what I want my life to be in a year or two or five, because, well, who the hell knows? Don’t get me wrong, I still have long term goals, but don’t assume that they will be reality at any specific point in time.

At the same time, I do still make assumptions that certain things won’t or can’t change that much. This past year has been an example of how wrong I can be about life and myself. Things on both fronts are very different than what I assumed would be my status quo.

What’s your favorite cartoon?

Invader Zim

Share five things you’re good at.

Sarcasm to start…. Breathing, existing, sleeping….. things that the “I” we usually consider isn’t too involved with.

In an effort to provide a more serious answer, though, this is kinda hard for me, cuz I’m not usually that great at giving myself praise, but I will certainly give it a shot!

1 – I am good at solving problems. This can pertain to personal, professional or academic problems.

2 – I am good at caring for others. This can be pets, friends, family and sometimes even strangers. It is just part of how I operate.

3 – I like to think that I am a pretty good writer.

4 – I am good at mediating, which kinda goes back to the problem solving thing. I can find a solution or scenario that works well for everyone involved.

5 – I am good at burying my emotions, and maintaining a visage of serenity and cheerfulness.

So yeah. Five things I’m good at.

Are you more of a night or morning person?

Depends.

I can do either routine as necessary, but given a choice when it comes to my work and obligation schedule, I would definitely prefer something geared toward night owl hours. I seem to function better when the rest of the world is unconscious. Take that as you will, but it’s just how I operate. 🙂

What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why?

For various reasons, I was the healthcare proxy for my best friend, which means that I had to make medical decisions for him in the event that he became incapable of doing so for himself. That type of event happened, and I had to choose whether or not to discontinue life support.

I don’t know if I have the ability to properly communicate the weight and severity of making that decision. I had agreed to being his proxy, because I wanted to help him, and I hadn’t put much thought into the situation I may (would) later find myself in. He asked for my help, and I would do anything for someone I consider a friend.

We had spoken a great deal about this kind of thing, even before the proxy thing came up. We would sit around talking about random things like, “would you rather be deaf or blind?”, or “cremation or burial?” or “what’s the worst way to die?” and discuss various related topics that emerged from our somewhat morbid conversations. We both agreed that we would not want to be on life support for an extended period.

Death sucks, no matter what the situation. But if you add in the ability to impact (in these types of cases, hasten) the timing of death’s arrival, that little bit of control adds an entirely new dynamic to the situation. You realize that, essentially, you have control over the life of another living, breathing human being. That blows your fucking mind, flat out. And it throws you into this crazy tailspin, feeling guilt for wanting to say yes, guilt for wanting to say no, the anticipation of the crushing loss that you will feel if you say yes, the desperate hope of some miracle if you say no.

I thought that I would be able to be strong and pull the plug and honor his wishes. I failed. I could not bear the guilt, the loss (that I endured anyway, mind you), or knowing that I would be giving the order to take the final action that would cause his life to end, even if I had nothing to do with how he got there in the first place. The fact of the matter is, I let my best friend suffer longer than he had to, and I will regret that for the rest of my life.

Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?

Aside from the staples of most holiday meals – turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, etc., my mom and grandmother would always make date and nut bread for the end of year holidays. It is so good, and can be a meal all on its own.

I’ve made it twice, but get discouraged because it’s not as good as I remember when I make it. I have the recipe, just not the decades of experience.