January Questions
Let me start this post by saying that I’m aware how much I’ve been slacking on blog posts. The six months between this post and the last one have been fraught to say the least, and while I promise I’m going to write a post that unpacks a bit of that, this isn’t it.
I want to give you something.
One day in January 2018, I was sitting at a cheap, slanted table in a dining room with three refrigerators along the wall and a dead mouse smell coming from somewhere. I lived in a ramshackle house with asbestos floors with eleven other people on Rottnest Island in Western Australia. I was reflecting the choices I made to end up there, and began to write out some questions designed to help me make sense of it.
I think I wrote 50. There might have been less.
I waited a day and then answered the questions and lost the doc, buried it somewhere on my laptop. I didn’t think about it again until I dug it out next January, when I answered the same questions sitting on my couch in Denver.
This January I answered them again, this time sitting at a folding table in my mother’s basement, and it formed, at least to me, a really interesting snapshot into the evolution of me and my situation.
Some things stayed the same. (Do you
want to have your same job next year? 2018: God no. 2019: Fuck no.
2020: Hell no) (Do you think you’re pretentious? 2018: yes. 2019: Oh
yeah. 2020: Yep.)
Some things changed. (Who do you live with? 2018: 11 people from half as many countries, only one of whom I knew. 2019: Kate. 2020: My mother)
Traditionally, I only open these questions once a year. I choose a day in January and answer them anew, then compare them to previous years’ answers. Then I forget about them until next January.
It’s not much, but I think it’s interesting. It’s cool, and yeah maybe a bit self-indulgent to watch yourself go through life like that, to be given an excuse to step back from the avalanche, the barrage of shit flying at us, every minute of every day, and allow yourself some space to stop and reflect. I’ve never been good at meditating, but maybe it’s a bit like that.
So that’s it. January questions. My gift to you. I’m going to drop my list here and I encourage and invite you to fill them out. My questions are pretty specific to me and to writing, but there are a lot that can apply to everyone. Take some out, add your own. Tell me what you’ve added so I can add them too. I think it was Socrates who said: ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ So I say to you, examine.
January Questions
How much money is in your bank account?
Where do you work?
Do you want next year’s answer to be
the same?
Who do you spend most of your time
with?
Where do you live?
Do you like your city?
Does your space feel like your own?
What is your relationship status?
What time do you usually wake up?
Are you in good shape?
Have you written something in the last
year that you’re proud of?
What are you listening to?
What’s the last song you wrote?
Do you speak better Spanish than you
did at this time last year?
Do you have a dirty mouth?
Describe your humor.
Would you say that you eat healthy?
What’s your dream job?
Do you think things happen for a
reason?
Describe your spirituality.
Where are you, as you’re answering
these questions, specifically. Describe the room.
What’s something you feel like you’ve
learned in the last year?
Do you think before you speak?
What do you want to improve about
yourself?
Where do you expect to be, next
January, answering these questions?
Are you happy?
What would make you happier?
Are you doing things that make you
excited?
What tattoo are you thinking about?
What’s your favorite pair of shoes?
What would you name a dog?
What’s something thoughtful you’ve
done?
Are you thinking about someone? Longing
for them?
Is anyone longing for you?
Where would you apparate, right now?
Food appears in front of you. Anything,
from anywhere. What is it?
When’s the last time you spoke with
your mother? Your father? Your brother?
Who do you live with?
What’s your go-to joke?
What’s the best dish you can cook?
Is there someone you wish you were
keeping in touch with?
What’s your movie theater snack?
Who is the last person you
videochatted?
What’s a piece of clothing you want but
don’t have?
Would you consider yourself cynical?
Are you in love?
Who would you want to spend a day with?
What mood are you in as you fill out
these questions?
What did you have for lunch?
What is your favorite kind of scenery?
Do you think you’re pretentious?
Is there a project you think you’ll see
through this year?
Have you exercised today?
What countries did you visit last year?
What dates stick out?
Where did most of your money go?
What’s your primary mode of transport?
What can you see out the nearest
window?
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