in the space between chaos and shape there was another chance

1 If you could have the power to make someone tell only the truth forevermore, who would you choose? 

    the chief executive of every country, every major company, and of every religion

 

2 If you had to name the hardest transition you have had to make in life, what would you say? 

     working at the financial place after years at the library. Though it wasn't always comfortable or happy, my place in the library was really good for me, and I for it. There are those who are natural-born financial people, who thrive in that environment. I was not among them, and it was a seven-plus-year slog through unfamiliar, disconcerting, rough waters. 

 

3 If you were to name the person with the best sixth sense, who would it be? 

    my college boyfriend and longtime real friend, R. He's a human truffle: looks like one thing on the outside, maybe a little shiny and inscrutable, but hidden on the inside is something wonderful, unexpected, and fun. He often seems to know what someone needs before they've realized it, and can be counted upon to be there when others don't show up. I credit his awareness of subtleties. 

 

4 If you had to describe the one experience that weakened you the most, what would it be? 

    I had (elective) surgery a few years ago. The procedure itself was physically traumatic, but the "recovery" was far worse. It was incredibly painful, lasted a much longer time than anticipated, and involved pain relieving medications to which I was allergic—though I did not know it at the time. Recovery involved increasing pain and weakness in large part because the pain relievers made me much sicker. A month after the surgery I was probably in more pervasive agony than I'd been the days immediately after. It took a long time to regain strength and get over the sense of being weakened from within. Awful.  

 

5 If you wanted to meditate for a whole day, where would you do it? 

    near a large body of water, preferably a river  

 

6 If you were to name a person you have known who exemplified weakness of character, who would it be? 

    by name?? Never. 

 

7 If you were to describe your attitude toward sin, what would you say? 

    it is inevitable, dishonorable, sometimes understandable, frustrating, and regrettably fashionable 

 

[from If: Questions for the Soul; the title quotation is by Jeanette Winterson, from The World and Other Places: Stories]