Friday Five

1. What do you most want to be remembered for?
Being a genuinely good person. I’m not sure if I’m there yet, but I know I’m trying.

2. What quotation best fits your outlook on life?
“never never never give up” – Winston Churchill

3. What single achievement are you most proud of in the past year?
Getting my BA

4. What about the past ten years?
Considering that I’ve spent most of the past 10 years in the process leading up to my achievement this year, see #3.

5. If you were asked to give a child a single piece of advice to guide them through life, what would you say?
No matter what anyone ever says or does to you, always be good, and maintain your integrity. That doesn’t mean you should let yourself get stomped on, but never stoop to that slimy level of pointless retribution and taking advantage of others.

This all reminds me of a little conversation I had with myself this morning…

We live in a world where everyone is defined by and remembered for what they “do”. What happens when you don’t “do” anything? I’m really feeling these days as if I have no identity.

I could say I’m a student, but that’s not right, I’m finished my degree, and don’t plan to go back to school just yet. I could define myself as a waitress, the job I do 2 nights a week to supplement my savings while I look for a better job, but that’s not me either. I could say I’m unemployed, but that’s technically not true, and doesn’t do justice to the accomplishments I’ve made over the past few years.

I rollerblade, but I’m not a rollerblader. I read, but not as often as I used to. I’ve recently started trying all sorts of things that I hadn’t before – cooking, gardening, my pathetic attempts to learn web design – but none of those define me either.

I have come to the conclusion that there isn’t really anything that I “do” that could answer that question with any sort of adequacy. I live, I love, I learn, I try – can anyone really ask much more of me, or of anyone else?

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