- How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
- Which is worse, failing or never trying?
- If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?
- When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
- What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world? How people treat this planet and each other.
- If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
- Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
- If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
- To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
- Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
- You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?
- If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?
- Would you break the law to save a loved one? I would say yes - tentatively. It depends on what law I would have to break. For example, I would speed across a red light to make it to a hospital if someone I loved was dying in the backseat, but I don't know if I could set off a bomb or shoot another person.
- Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity? Yes, East Campus at MIT. I walked into the hallways the first day and saw it as the weirdest place I've ever been. There were distasteful, badly drawn anime murals on the walls, people that smelled weird, and a dark hallway lit by red light that seemed to be from a horror movie. I went around telling people how freaked out I was by it and went out of my way to avoid the activities being held there. And then I went back, the next day, and met some really cool people and saw some of my favorite murals in all of MIT. The tour guides to the tangerine tour were East Campus folk, and everything from the hair dying to the constant stream of interesting activities was so exciting. I don't know if I've ever experienced such a 180 in opinion so quickly and so dramatically before in my life.
- What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
- How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
- What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?
- Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?
- If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why? Spain. I feel as if growing up in America is a very high-pressured environment. Children have life paths set out for them from a young age, and there are rarely breaks between chapters in life. In European countries, and Spain in particular, people are encouraged to live in the moment and experience what they are feeling. There is a more pervasive culture of taking gap years after school, enjoying your food, and traveling.
- Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster? No.
- Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton? I love thinking too much. I take too much pleasure from my art, my reading, my intellectual pursuits, building things and creating and speaking. It feels so high-achieving, and I love it because I take pleasure from it. But if I am constantly worried, preoccupied with staying on top, maintaining my productivity, pleasing those around me, then it loses certain qualities that make achieving so enjoyable. There are simple pleasures in life that can be enjoyed - hiking through the woods, lying in the grass on a warm afternoon, feeling the sun on your skin, dipping your feet in cool water. But again I cannot help but overthink it. A simpleton's life would be limited, and perhaps I would not be able to do many things, such as art, or travel, or creation. I think it would be easier to be a worried genius and let it all go to find peace than it would be for a simpleton to struggle in trying to learn a new language or play an instrument.
- Why are you, you?
- Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?
- Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?
- What are you most grateful for?
- Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?
- Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?
- Has your greatest fear ever come true?
- Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?
- What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?
- At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?
- If not now, then when?
- If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?
- Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?
- Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?
- Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?
- If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job? Yes. Because I work tutoring kids in a small cramped building, spending more time grading the same packets than working with the kids
- Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?
- Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?
- When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?
- If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?
- Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?
- What is the difference between being alive and truly living?
- When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?
- If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
- What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
- When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?
- What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?
- In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that? I will most likely forget yesterday (Saturday) and the day before that (Friday), but I will remember Thursday, because it was my high school graduation. Perhaps not on the device of some particularly brilliant memory from the day, but as a simple concept of remembering a significant event, such as a first kiss, a wedding day, or a high school graduation. I hope that in 5 years, I will have an even more splendid graduation to remember instead.
- Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?
nov 26 2011 ∞
dec 18 2018 +
dec 18 2018 +