This Week’s Questions:
What was the last thing you read digital or print?
I read an excerpt from “Everything in Its Place,” a posthumous collection of writings by Dr. Oliver Sacks. It is titled “The Healing Power of Gardens” here is the link if you are interested in reading it. It confirmed my feelings about nature and how good it is for us.
Are you more an extrovert or introvert?
The older I get, the more extroverted I become, it seems. I was always painfully shy as a child, fearful of speaking out, answering in class, and loathe to have to speak publicly. In the last 10 years I reached a point where I cared less about what people might think, and was no longer afraid to voice my feelings. I suppose with age comes confidence, I gained a confidence as I grew older that was missing within me as a younger woman. This year the administration where I work held a meeting for the “new hires” about 20 of us, and asked questions about how the year was going and what we felt could be improved upon. I spoke out about something I felt needed to be changed going forward, and afterward a young teacher in her 20’s came over to me and thanked me for saying what she had been thinking but was too afraid to say. I told her in 30 years or so she would be that person speaking out. Some people are outspoken their entire lives, others, like me, need to grow into it.
How is your life different from what you imagined as a younger person?
I can’t say I ever imagined it. I graduated high school not knowing what I was going to do- I was thinking about going into fashion, but never really pursued it. I got a job in a jewelry store through someone I knew, which led years later to my becoming a Gemologist. After that my life took many twists and turns, none of which I could have predicted or ever entertained a thought about. I do remember as a child, about 10 years old, I wanted to be a teacher. I loved my 3rd grade teacher and wanted to be like her. It took me over 40 years, but that is where my life landed, which always makes me smile when I think of it.
Do you think about dying? Does death scare you? Why or why not?
I think about dying a lot. I always have. Now that I have friends who have died, I think about it even more. It scares me because it is an unknown. I remember when my friend was diagnosed with lung cancer, asking him if he was afraid of death. He said he wasn’t, he was afraid of the pain. That gave me pause, as I hadn’t thought about that angle before. My husband and I have burial plots already, and I have written out what I want on my headstone and attached it to my will. There’s no escaping it, that’s the bottom line.
This is the headstone on my cousin’s grave. He died at age 50, and chose the setting for his final resting place, and the words that would be inscribed on his headstone. I wrote about him here
The inscription on Mitch’s grave
Share Your World
A compact little bird with a distinctive call and a tail that sticks up from his body, I just love to see them. As I walked a trail the other day I spotted one hopping around under some dead tree trunks. Almost an exercise in futility trying to get the little guy to stand still long enough for me to get a photo, but I managed to get a few by standing atop one those dead trunks so I could look down on him. It was like a game of hide and seek.
Happy Friday all!
A Day In The Life 
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