This is week ten in my personal “If… Project” in which I answer questions from the book “If… (Questions for the Game of Life)”
There are 125 pages of this book, each with four questions. I plan to take one page each week and answer the questions as thoroughly and honestly as I am able. In addition, I invite you to answer the questions along with me, whether it be in the comments section, your own personal blog, or just within your own thoughts.
Perhaps in doing so, we will get to know each other better, but even more importantly, get to know ourselves better.
This week’s questions:
If you were to be stranded forever on a desert island with one platonic friend only, in whose company would you want to spend the rest of your days?
Yikes. Just one friend? Forever? That’s a bit harsh, don’t ya think? I hope I don’t offend anyone with my choice, but I guess a little bit of seniority is also playing into my decision. I think I would choose my friend Erin. We’ve known each other almost nine years now, and she is pretty much the only person from college who I actually keep in touch with. We’ve each been through a lot in the time we’ve known each other, and with each other’s friendship, we’ve come out the other side as better and stronger people each time. She continues to open my eyes to new things/ideas. She’s one of a very few people to whom I honestly feel I could say anything. I stood up with her at her wedding as one of her bride’s maids, and if I ever have a wedding of my own, I would want her to be involved as well. Even though we don’t physically see each other very often, our relationship hasn’t strained in the least bit. She’s definitely someone I can consider a true friend and I know she would even be able to make being stranded on a desert island a lot less sucky.
If you had to live the rest of your life in a place that you have never lived in before, where would you live?
Los Angeles could be nice, but I fear that after about nine years of living in NYC I’ve become too “east coast” to live somewhere like LA. There’s always Orlando, but even I’m getting sick of all of my Orlando/Disney themed answers lately, so I refuse to pick that one this time. Maybe somewhere in Europe. London might be nice.
If you could keep only one article of clothing you currently own and the rest were to be thrown out, what would you keep?
I am not the least bit interested in fashion or style, and one look into my closet would leave you with no doubts about that. It’s pretty much just tshirts, a couple polos, and jeans. I really don’t put much energy in keeping up with the latest styles or trends. I’ve just always preferred to spend my time and money on other things. So, I can’t really pick out any one article of clothing that I would never be able to part with. It’s clothes. It’s fabric. Nothing more.
If you had to lose one of your five senses, which would you give up?
Well, my first choice would be to lose none of them, obviously. But by being friends with Garrett, I’ve been introduced to the life of a deaf person and seen with my own two eyes a little bit of how that does and doesn’t impact your daily life. He’s been a personal example that living as a deaf person doesn’t stop you from living at all. The thing that would make me devastated to lose my hearing would be the loss of hearing music. Music is something that has been a huge part of my life since young childhood. It started with learning the love of Motown and Oldies from my mother. Grew into discovering movie musicals and musical theatre. Then it expanded into the love of instrumental music when I joined the band in middle school. So, music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’d hate to lose those melodies and harmonies.
Losing my eyesight would probably be even more devastating to me, as I imagine it would be easier to live as a deaf person than as a blind person. And as someone who loves food and eating as much as I do, I can’t imagine losing the ability to taste. And just trying to imagine what life would be like if you couldn’t feel anything is so bizarre to me. You couldn’t feel the chair you were sitting on, the floor you were standing on, the bed you were laying in. You’d constantly feel as if you were floating on air. I imagine it would also leave you feeling virtually paralyzed.
So, I guess by process of elimination, I’d have to pick my sense of smell. Yeah, the loss of some of my favorite scents would be saddening. No longer being able to smell vanilla or pumpkin pie again. No longer being able to smell my favorite cologne, Geir, again. No longer being able to smell the citizens of NYC who refuse to shower and then pack themselves like sardines onto the subway on scortching hot summer days again.
Maybe losing the sense of smell wouldn’t be so bad.
Those are my answers to this week’s questions. What are yours?