Tag: dailyprompt

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.

If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?

This is too funny. A while back, i wrote This and This, and then, this prompt pops up!

I would write more, I would draw more, I would spend more time researching things that interest me. Basically, I would become an eccentric intellectual recluse, keeping company mostly with books, notebooks and my dogs. I would strive even harder to understand everything I could about the world and the universe, and everything contained within them.

Do you trust your instincts?

Probably not as much as I should, but likely more often than most do.

I posted recently about Gut Feelings, and it’s so fitting today because today was a reminder that gut feelings don’t always scream at you, or even, sometimes, talk above a whisper. But this is the importance of being quiet so you can listen.

I had to get dog food this afternoon. I got ready to leave, and had this nagging little voice in my head saying it could wait till tomorrow. I shushed that voice, thinking it was that of procrastination and laziness. And i left. Less than three minutes later? Hello, accident.

I now don’t have a car, but nobody was injured, and that is the important part. The rest? Insurance, cars, traffic disruptions… what the fuck ever. The other chick and I walked away unharmed. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we both have something to be thankful for.

The lesson here, for me, at least, is to fucking listen. Don’t make assumptions about what your mind or body is telling you. Even a whisper can be important.

What is good about having a pet?

Honestly, the list is huge but I have to say the best part is experiencing the love and sometimes hilarious personality of someone who can’t speak in words and yet communicates so clearly. It’s an entirely different language that you learn in real time while getting to know your pet. It’s just an amazing experience.

Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

Given the criteria of not being a house or car, and the addition of it being a “personal item”, I would have to say cell phone or laptop. I have also purchased appliances and lawnmowers and such, but I don’t consider them personal. I am not inordinately attached to my refrigerator. 😉

What’s something you believe everyone should know.

That it is impossible to actually know anything.

We can know things, but it’s always with a caveat. It’s what we know at that time. it’s what we have the capacity to know given our limited senses and frames of reference. It’s what we have the ability to understand.

A person can only know something with absolute certainty if they know everything. And it is impossible that a human being can know everything.

We accept and say that we know things because we know them with a high degree of certainty. But the truth is, we never really know 100%. This works, to an extent, and is necessary for us to function in any sort of efficient manner. But, because we can’t know everything, we should always keep in mind that we don’t actually know anything.

Keep an open mind and learn everything you can. You’ll never learn everything, but it’s a great experience to try to.

What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?

Oh good grief, what haven’t I considered? And for the record, that consideration is for a primary career path, which I believe is a prerequisite for having an alternative. And should I end up with a primary career path, I would think the alternative would be on the list of those already considered. Or not, who the hell knows?

Here’s the list, in no particular order:

Particle physicist, astronaut, veterinarian, anthropologist, drummer, tattoo artist/piercer, surgeon, emergency physician, neurobiologist, CPA, forensic accountant, think tank member (don’t know what that’s actually called), financial advisor/advisory business owner, mathematician, theoretical physicist, cardiologist, paleontologist, massage therapist, author, philosopher, poet, game tester, actress, therapist, technical writer, editor.

*takes a breath*

I have, apparently, considered lots of different things covering many different fields, but so far I’ve wound up focusing on none of them long term and just learning lots of different things in the process.

Currently, I am essentially a professional problem solver, though that is not my formal title. I don’t have a career path, per se, because I haven’t chosen an area that I want to spend the rest of my life focused on. I think there are far too many fascinating things in the world to pick just one to focus all my energy on for extended periods. There is so much I wouldn’t be able to learn if I did that. And that would make me sad. And screw that, nobody wants to be sad.

I suppose my optimal career choice would be student. I can be a student at the same time as doing what I need to do to support myself. The two are by no means mutually exclusive.

So, yeah. That. 😝

What are you most proud of in your life?

I think this prompt is meant to inspire people to write about things they’ve done or created or accomplished, and while I certainly have things like that that I am proud of, none of them really feels like they fit.

The thing that I am most proud of is the fact that both my parents, most of my uncles and both of my grandfathers served in some branch of the military. Being raised in and around that environment gave me such an appreciation for what all servicemen and women do. This applies to the police force as well, where two of my uncles have served and at least one friend currently serves.

I have a deep and profound pride in the fact that I live in a place where men and women voluntarily serve for the sake of others. This is a beautiful thing, and though I personally never served, I am proud of those who do or have.

They are my heroes.

What have you been working on?

Me.

There are lots of things I work on every single day, but the best way to summarize is to say that I am working to create and be the best version of myself, whatever that ends up looking like.

I don’t know quite yet. I’m a work in progress. 😉