25. If many of our momentary impulses lead us to bad places, why do they even exist?
because "existence" is not predestined, to that extent. There is no Great and Powerful behind the curtain of humanity, pushing buttons and pulling levers in an effort to control what we do and how we do it. It's up to each of us.
Anyway, what's this idea based on? Are many of our impulses really headed in a negative direction? How about my impulse to hold the door for a stranger, when entering a restaurant with my family? How about my friend from the flatland, who regularly sends books that he thinks I'll love? How about my former coworker, who decided out of the blue to invite me out for a walk - and thus launching our weekly exercise-and-therapy sessions? And a hundred other examples.
What I'm trying to say is that people do kind things on the spur of the moment, just as much as they do stuff that "leads us to bad places." And they do awful things after giving them much thought and consideration, just as much as they do stuff with uniformly positive results.
26. If everything would be predestined, is there any point in trying?
not really. Challenging, complex, complicated ... all of that is what drives me.
27. How do you think life would be right now if the WW2 was won by the other side?
I would estimate that there's been 10,000 books written on that subject, in English alone. I haven't read any of them, because that's the sort of fantasy that I can't get into.
1. Share something nice about someone who's not in your life anymore.
When Nick and I started negotiating whether we'd date, we spent lots of time talking on the phone late at night. We were only a few miles apart, but under the circumstances we could have been on opposite sides of the world.
One night, he interrupted our conversation, telling me to go outside. My first thought was that he was making a grand gesture, maybe standing outside my dwelling with a bunch of flowers. I went out to the patio, which was unoccupied. He told me to look up. I did, and then saw a plane flying very high, right above me. He said that we were both looking at the same thing, thousands of miles away, and so were connected. We didn't speak for whole minutes, both of us staring up at the starry sky with a streak of exhaust trailing behind that plane, and feeling closer than we were able to when we were face to face.
2. Do you often get déjà vu?
not often, but it happens
3. What’s more important than work?
anything and everything
4. What was your biggest addiction in life?
I've been addicted to a few things over the years, primarily alcohol and other people. In the last several years I've become more moderate. More independence, less reliance on any other people or things, fewer chemicals.
5. Paper, e-books, or audio?
ayup, all of the above. More often audio than the others, lately, since my physical therapist "forbade" me from holding a book, which apparently exacerbates the degenerative disc disease in my neck. Audio has its own issues, though, and doesn't necessarily lead directly to better posture.
I typically re-read in paper, read new in e-book, and try older stuff that translates well to audio (like history or biography).
6. Do you plan far ahead?
I think far ahead, but try not to plan. What's the point? The only thing you can count on is that everything changes.
7. Do you ever think about retirement and getting older?
almost every day, about retirement at least. Getting older is not something I contemplate too often (would it matter?), but others' especially, and my own, retirement is much on my mind.
[from here; the title quotation is by Thomas Hardy, from Tess of the D'Urbervilles]
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