7 questions

Sooooo Facebook is making me ask myself 7 important questions.  Why not answer them here?

1. What would you do with your life if you didn’t have to pay the bills? If money weren’t an issue, what would you do with your days? Would you write? Read? Sing? Whatever it is, you have to do that thing. Money is an interesting phenomenon that completely controls our everyday lives without having any purpose other than sustainability in the form of purchasing from others what we could produce and create right in our own backyards. Consider that when you’re deciding between a soulless job that will make you rich versus a life that will feed your passions.

-Chill in coffee shops and work on comics, art, music.

-Picket outside schools about adultism and hand out free books.

-Offer my time to work in a library or on a farm or in a cafe.

-Try to save the world in every way possible (because there are simply too many to list right now)

2. What cuts you the deepest? So much is defined by what we’re most affected by. Really, what do you not even want to think about right now because it brings you so much emotion? Let those things in, and sit with them. Consider them. Integrate them in your life. We call this acceptance. It doesn’t mean you have to like it, it just means it is something that moves you very deeply for some reason, so you shouldn’t ignore it. Figure out what that reason is.

-Many things cut me deep.  The many ills of this world/society, the many inner turmoils I face on my own, the many things I know I cannot help...  But I try to remember one thing: problems can only do two things.  They can kill you, or they can force you to get creative and grow out of it.  For example, one day our sun will explode.  We can either grieve and wait to explode or we can think how awesome it'll be to be space travelers.  Without that inevitability, we might never be forced to transcend our Earthly place.  For another example, I have faced a lot of anguish in my life.  It didn't kill me, but it has helped me find the humility and empathy to be a decent person.  I could be mad, or I could enjoy it. ... But to stop avoid the question, the things that cut me deepest are being trans and the abomination of a society our elders have created.

3. If you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today? Live for today or plant seeds for tomorrow.  What path is most important for you to take before you embark on that new road we call death?

-I'd listen to this song on repeat (and maybe this one too).  I'd also write a long letter to family and friends.  I'd tell my siblings some truths I've kept from them.  I'd print up a copy of my blog, find all my old drawings, take down the things my students made for me over the years off my wall, compile a big compilation of the joys of my life and plan a ceremony to celebrate life...  Don't mourn my death.  Death sounds like a wonderful adventure-- and I'll see you there.

4. Who do you love and why do you love them? The first people that come to mind are very much a part of who you are. But what’s even more important is why you love these people. Where is your love and what is it based on?

-Love is complicated for me.  Seeing matter and "people" as interchangable allows me to love notes forged with intensity, songs sung with tears, moments lost in time, random strangers full of pain, as well as close individuals with whom I share intimate or non-intimate relations.  ... OK, yeah, to answer the question without copping out, I will say my family... Yet I will say my family is far more than simply the ones who share my blood.  You know who you are.

5. What do you quote? I’m always interested by what people quote, especially on social media, because really, they’re not bringing your attention to something that someone wise said as much as they are trying to tell you something about themselves. Look at what you want to perpetuate to other people, when you yourself can’t find the words. What strikes you most is who you are.

-I have the most eclectic and varied quote stores in my brain.  If this were D&D, I'd have devoted a feat to it.  However, I find myself quoting Rumi more often than anyone else these days.  That old lecherous fart... he knew some shit.

6. In those rare but life-changing moments, how do you act?  When you’re at the end of your rope and you have to make a decision, which way do you choose? Notice the patterns in the paths you choose to take. Notice how you help others when they ask for it. Notice more how you help when they don’t. Your instinctive, intuitive reactions do say something about you. I know some would argue that instincts are just by-products of technically being animals, but our instincts are also formed by the thoughts that we craft in our minds.

-I make many calculations and fortify myself with knowledge, but at the end of the day, I follow my instinct and I listen to the language of the world which deafens me to much that logic and reasoning whispers in my ear.  I don't find these moments rare.  Every day is an explosion of action and reaction, the great cosmic dance of Shiva.  There is a flow and once in line with it, I believe every moment of your life becomes life-changing.  I'll tell you for sure if that's true once I'm in line with that flow.

7. What do you think about most? It’s the little things that add up and create who you are, and if you really want to see where you’re at, write down the things you think about most. They are where you are most invested. They are where you are most curious, interested, perplexed, pained and inspired. These are the things and people who most tell you who you are, because they are the things and people who have remained with you, even if they’re not physically there anymore.

-hmmm.  Gender, how to make society better, higher states of consciousness, humility at the vastness of the universe, and joy at all the simple things.