Deeper than most self-surveys

I thought these questions via Fetch me my Axe were better than most self-surveys so I thought I'd give them a whirl.

1. What was your favorite story (fairy tale, folktale, bedtime story, what have you) as a child?

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It began my lifetime obsession with food. And not just any old food but free, serendipitous food.

2. If you were telling your own life as a story, what would be "happily ever after" for you personally at this point?

A comfortable home, lots of fun travel on the calendar, someone to do the traveling with, a comfortable couch - it's my goal in life to have a couch that is comfortable enough to sit and also snuggle on - lots of hobbies, no deadlines. Just a simple life without any ugly surprises. I'm actually not that far from all that.

3. Name something that makes you deliriously happy.

Knowing that someone out there cares about me, enjoys my company and lets me know it.

4. Something you couldn't live without.

I think in the grand scheme of things there isn't anything physical/material that I couldn't live without. I do enjoy indoor plumbing a lot but I could probably live without it if necessary. Life wouldn't be worth living without love though. Is that too tired and cliché ? It's true. You can live with "like" but it's not truly living. Trust me on this one.

5. Something that never fails to soothe you or calm you down.

Reading in bed. Specifically reading something that I want to read, not that I have to read.

6. Something or someone ("someone" can apply to the last three questions as well) that turns you on, sexually.

Oooh, inquiring minds want to know. Let's see - knowing that someone is turned on by me. And sounds. You know the ones.

7. You walk out your door tomorrow and utopia has been achieved. What does the world look like? How (very roughly) are people living and maintaining this world? Assuming there are no more political battles to be fought, and that you, personally, have all your material and health needs met, how do you spend your days?

I'm going to take a page from Robert Fulgrum here and say that everything we needed to know how to achieve this we learned in kindergarten.

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder.
• Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
  

I spend my days trying new things and traveling, making crafty things, napping, socializing, having dinner parties with interesting people, reading, writing, hiking, kayaking - anything I currently daydream about while I'm at work.

8. What's your metaphysical/cosmological worldview (including, but not limited to, religion)? How does it differ (or not) from what you were raised with?

I was raised Lutheran so my original indoctrination was that if you were good you went to heaven. My current worldview can be summed up in two ways, 1) Follow the Golden Rule, i.e. do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and then 2) "Be excellent to each other" - Bill and Ted.