then he went up the chimney himself, the old liar—and the last thing he took was the log for their fire

1 If you had to name something that always seems to call or speak to your soul, what would you say? 

    the Mississippi River. I truly feel sorry for people who can't be near it. The effect it's had on my life is incalculable. 

2 If you could find out the truth about any one thing, what would you want to know? 

    it's funny: thinking about this now, in my current state of mind, the idea of 'knowing one truth' is not nearly as appealing as knowing that I'll still be searching for (and occasionally finding) my own truths, in the future. It's the journey, not the destination, that matters.

 

3 If you could have more ambition in a single area of your life, what would it be? 

    I would like to date again. Or, well, more accurately I might like to be in sufficiently good shape to try swimming in the dating pool. And by "good shape" I mean the whole package. It would be great to be super motivated and confident, physically and mentally, to get back into the fray.

 

4 If you could have one person understand you better, who would you pick? 

    finally, an easy one! 

    Myself. 

 

5 If there was one thing that you do consistently in order to be accepted by others, what would you say it was? 

    reveal less than 1/10 of what I'm thinking 

 

6 If you were to recall the time when a good cry had the most therapeutic effect on you, when would it be? 

    I've cried so much this summer. I'm sure some of it was "a good cry" and therapeutic, but mostly it feels traumatic, nauseating, and awful. Anyway, I cannot deliberately set out to cry—it just happens, as the result of current stimuli. 

 

7 If you were to name the best example you know of evil masquerading as good, what would it be? 

    politics aside... the Grinch, when he stares into Cindy Lou's big blue eyes and tells her the tree needs repair. What a beast!

[from If: Questions for the Soul; the title quotation is from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)]