Thought Questions #148-#154

(photo by Austin Ban via Unsplash)

Time for another round of Thought Questions! Please be sure to check out my friend Celeste’s blog too, as she’s also answering these questions each week.

#148: What would you do if you made a mistake and somebody died? Probably beat myself up for the rest of my life. I would like to think I’d do something to honor their memory instead of getting wildly depressed and unstable. But I tend to feel guilty very easily.

#149: Who do you trust and why? I trust my husband because he’s demonstrated before that even in the middle of our rough periods, when the chips are down, he’s got my back 100%. I think trust is something that really has to be built over time.

#150: If you were forced to eliminate every physical possession from your life with the exception of what could fit into a single backpack, what would you put in it? I initially thought about this question in the context of “a disaster strikes and you have to flee with what you can carry on your back” and for a while I was worried that when I came to this question, it would be really hard to answer. And it’s funny, I feel so attached to most of my stuff and yet I realize I have trouble answering this question, because there just aren’t that many things I am so terribly attached to that I couldn’t do without them. And yes, I realize that it’s easy to say that, but the older (and wiser?) I get the more I realize that very little is necessary. Plenty of things are comfortable, like a cushy duvet for the bed, my collection of candle lanterns in the living room, etc. But necessary? Hmm. It’s not that I’m ambivalent, I just can’t think of many things that I couldn’t live without.

I’ll assume I’m already wearing my favorite outfit (complete with my favorite boots and scarf) and add to the backpack: a tablet for endless Kindle books and music; some photos of my family and cats; a tube of amber body butter (my favorite scent); my electric blanket; a camera; a scented candle; some tea and my mug; food for meine katzen, who would of course come along; and my trench knife, just in case. I think that’s all I would absolutely have to possess to set up anywhere and be okay. I’d be sad to lose the rest of my possessions that are comfortable or fun or useful, but in the end there’s ultimately very little that can’t be replaced.

#151: When does silence convey more meaning than words? When you’re angry. I think the weight of someone’s anger always feels worse when they say nothing, because you’re left with your own thoughts and imaginings of what it is that they’re holding back.

#152: How do you spend the majority of your free time? Um…look at my blog title!

#153: Who do you think of first when you think of ‘success?’ I don’t know that I do think of any one person…sorry, I can’t really answer this question! I’m interested to hear what other people say, though, so leave me a comment.

#154: What did you want to be when you grew up? So many things: singer (until I learned I couldn’t carry a tune), ballerina (too much exercise involved), photographer for National Geographic (until I saw the behind-the-scenes photos of the teams covered in bugs or camped in the snow waiting to start shooting). I definitely didn’t see myself with the life I have now, but I love it and wouldn’t trade it away.