friday five again
fridayfiver...
1. Pick a theme song that represents your life:
Hmm. "Superfreak"? :-D
2. Do you talk to yourself?
Out loud? No, not usually. Very occasionally I will talk to myself while I'm trying to figure something tricky out...but otherwise my conversations with myself are purely internal. :)
3. Describe your relationship with your co-workers:
Not working right now, but from past experience: Polite but with a definite professional distance. I am not the type who wants to make friends at work. Eight hours of togetherness day-in, day-out is enough. :-P
4. Have you ever done karaoke?
No, but since I started going to church and singing along with the hymns I have become a little less inhibited about public singing. So, you never know, someday I may get rip-roaring drunk* and belt out some corny tune in public.
*Not really. The fear of losing my sense of shame about public karaoke is what keeps me a teetotaler.
5. Do you believe in love at first sight?
No. Infatuation or lust that could possibly grow into love, maybe. But NOT genuine love. I don't use the term "love" lightly in relationships.
thefridayfive...
1. What is your opinion on karma?
It's a nice idea and I often half-jokingly comment on trying to earn good karma when I'm worried about something bad happening, but I don't think it's really true. Many times bad things happen to good people.
2. If anything, do you think attitude makes any difference? If you believe the world and life are good, will good things radiate toward you? If you believe otherwise, will it all be a self fulfilling prophecy?
Yes, I definitely think a positive attitude tends to produce positive results, particularly when dealing with other people. Of course, cultivating a positive attitude is easier said than done. :-P
3. How has luck/chance/facts-of-life/God/karma/nature treated you so far?
I have to say it's been pretty kind to me so far. Most of the things I have been bummed out about lately really aren't that bad in the big picture. I'm pretty fortunate to have been born into the American middle class in an era where almost anything is possible for women. A large portion of the world isn't that lucky.
4. What is your opinion of the concept of destinies?
Yeah, I do tend to think that if something is meant to happen, it WILL happen.
5. Are both bad and good things needed in order to truly live life? Can you have the bad without the good? The good without the bad?
Like flowers, we need both rain and sunshine to thrive. Sure, you CAN have all-bad or all-good, but I don't think it happens very often.
When you look at how people who have faced horrible hardships are coping, I think they almost always have found SOME kernel of goodness or some kind of bright side to be able to survive. Whether it's simply taking the suffering as a character-building exercise or finding solace in the idea that your suffering on earth will be rewarded by God in the afterlife, you need SOMETHING good to believe in.
On the other side of the coin, there are definitely some people who have pampered lives and don't seem to have much insight into what it means to really suffer. I think it's almost impossible for someone who has had a pampered life to appreciate their good fortune if they've been insulated from suffering. It's just not something you can really intellectually grasp. You need to feel it on a visceral level.
1. Pick a theme song that represents your life:
Hmm. "Superfreak"? :-D
2. Do you talk to yourself?
Out loud? No, not usually. Very occasionally I will talk to myself while I'm trying to figure something tricky out...but otherwise my conversations with myself are purely internal. :)
3. Describe your relationship with your co-workers:
Not working right now, but from past experience: Polite but with a definite professional distance. I am not the type who wants to make friends at work. Eight hours of togetherness day-in, day-out is enough. :-P
4. Have you ever done karaoke?
No, but since I started going to church and singing along with the hymns I have become a little less inhibited about public singing. So, you never know, someday I may get rip-roaring drunk* and belt out some corny tune in public.
*Not really. The fear of losing my sense of shame about public karaoke is what keeps me a teetotaler.
5. Do you believe in love at first sight?
No. Infatuation or lust that could possibly grow into love, maybe. But NOT genuine love. I don't use the term "love" lightly in relationships.
thefridayfive...
1. What is your opinion on karma?
It's a nice idea and I often half-jokingly comment on trying to earn good karma when I'm worried about something bad happening, but I don't think it's really true. Many times bad things happen to good people.
2. If anything, do you think attitude makes any difference? If you believe the world and life are good, will good things radiate toward you? If you believe otherwise, will it all be a self fulfilling prophecy?
Yes, I definitely think a positive attitude tends to produce positive results, particularly when dealing with other people. Of course, cultivating a positive attitude is easier said than done. :-P
3. How has luck/chance/facts-of-life/God/karma/nature treated you so far?
I have to say it's been pretty kind to me so far. Most of the things I have been bummed out about lately really aren't that bad in the big picture. I'm pretty fortunate to have been born into the American middle class in an era where almost anything is possible for women. A large portion of the world isn't that lucky.
4. What is your opinion of the concept of destinies?
Yeah, I do tend to think that if something is meant to happen, it WILL happen.
5. Are both bad and good things needed in order to truly live life? Can you have the bad without the good? The good without the bad?
Like flowers, we need both rain and sunshine to thrive. Sure, you CAN have all-bad or all-good, but I don't think it happens very often.
When you look at how people who have faced horrible hardships are coping, I think they almost always have found SOME kernel of goodness or some kind of bright side to be able to survive. Whether it's simply taking the suffering as a character-building exercise or finding solace in the idea that your suffering on earth will be rewarded by God in the afterlife, you need SOMETHING good to believe in.
On the other side of the coin, there are definitely some people who have pampered lives and don't seem to have much insight into what it means to really suffer. I think it's almost impossible for someone who has had a pampered life to appreciate their good fortune if they've been insulated from suffering. It's just not something you can really intellectually grasp. You need to feel it on a visceral level.