Are you a lifelong learner?
Are we not all lifelong learners? If I act differently today because of something that happened yesterday, I learned something!?
So I like books. I sometimes read. And maybe sometimes learn. But I rarely act any different from yesterday.
What’s a book you think deserves a sequel?
I really had to think about this one. But I have an answer.
The Book of Common Prayer (1662) deserves a sequel. I do not mean an update – like the Uk 1928 or any of the Australian versions. Nor a version when there is a new monarch. A continuing story with new material within the same family.
It would contain some of the offices that are missing from the original. (Maybe an office for the setting aside for monastic life – a BCP version of the tonsure.) And some of the “red letter days” (like the Transfiguration) that are missing from the 1662 version.
What villain actually had a good point?
First thought is either Walter White or Tony Soprano.
On reflection, I think the author of the “perhaps”, Beyond Good and Evil, and the “death of God”. Yes, he was super weird and he died after an extended mental illness but he needs to be experienced. I think his take on “truth” is well worth a thought or two. And his take on writing, that all is autobiographical, is worthy of much thought. His sister did him no service!
So, maybe not a standard villain, but Fredrick Nietzsche for me.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I am very happy where I am at the moment. But …
Mount Athos! It would be so inspiring to live in a hermitage there. Maybe an old used one!? And soak up the wisdom of the elders. To simply “be” somewhere so beautify and with such history. Yes, I think I would like to live somewhere on Mount Athos.
If you ask me tomorrow, it will be a different place!
I am not sure if it is good “for us” but I am sure it is not good for me. I like order to keep sane. Too many people stresses and overwhelms me, and too much noise hurts my head. So chaos is not my thing. But it might be yours?
I would like to say something profound and insightful. But I have learned recently that I am really bad with money. When I have it, I spend it. (Hence, my library.) Also I have noticed that I try to reward myself with purchases (that I absolutely do not need).
Having things does not make you happy, neither does it take away the darkness inside. My perspective shift!!!!!
I like sleep. In fact, one might say, I love to be asleep. Yet I know that certain foods and drinks stop me from sleeping. Or, maybe, sleeping as well as I can. So no caffeine in the afternoon, no big meals in the afternoon, and no snacks. Also no sleeping in the afternoon! I sleep with the sun – when it sets I go to sleep, when it rises I need to get up. I find that listening to an audiobook helps me to sleep. I know that it is because my anxiety needs it. But it works for me.
Know thyself! Ever person is gloriously different. So knowing yourself is a good first step to dealing with negative thoughts. For me, it is solitude. Not isolation. But real solitude. The difference? Solitude is rejoicing in who is present, isolation is who is absent. I do not do random!
This solitude puts all my thoughts into context. And those present are the context. So …
What do you love now, that you hated when you were younger?
Reading!! I hated reading in school – I had better things to do. But now it is almost exclusively what I do. I would not think of leaving the house without a book. And I often dream about the books I am reading. So …
What’s a time you followed your gut and it turned out to be exactly right?
The truth is I have valued loyalty over my gut instinct. When something or someone feels wrong, I want to remain loyal. I trust the other more than I trust me. The other, after all, is better than me!!!
Maybe another way is that I tend to preach being proactive but I live react!?
