Tag: dailyprompt

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. 😉

Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?

For the most part, unproductive.

Even if I desperately need a lazy day, I tend to put it off until I literally can’t function at all, and I’m not able to fully recover anyway, so I tend to spend my days in various states of tired.

I have been learning to be better about this, however. Resting when I need to, allowing myself to just be instead of constantly doing.

Ask me again in a year and I’ll be able to give you a better, more informed answer. 😉

When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

Any single parent in the world who manages to raise a happy, healthy child. All of the single parents I’ve known personally have been moms, but I know there’s single dads out there too. Moms and dads who, for whatever reason, are in a position where they have to play the roles of both parents, who sacrifice themselves for the sake of their children and who work as long and as hard as they have to to make sure their children are not only taken care of, but have the best life possible. That is the picture of success. And, a picture of heroism as far as I’m concerned.

What makes a good neighbor?

This, like so many other preferences and definitions of what a “good” whatever is, depends on my mood.

In general, I want my neighbors to not be assholes. We don’t necessarily have to be friends, per se, but friendly is always good. If the person is crabby, so be it, but I like to smile and wave at neighbors. Also, keep your pets, plants, kids, etc. out of my yard unless invited. That’s just being polite.

I also think that neighbors who mind their own business but get involved in emergency situations is good. For example, if I come home from a shopping trip with a small trampoline, several buckets of paint, and half a dozen brightly colored feather boas, you can be curious, but that’s about it unless we have become friends at some point or I volunteer more information. At the same time, if I come home from work one day and some creepy dude attacks me, and you hear or see what’s going on, you better be doing something to help! If not, you definitely crash into asshole status.