Daily Archives: July 6, 2006

Ask to the Answer

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Okay, i thought of what I want to write about. It’s disorganized, but let me see if I can explain it.

“Open-Minded” used to be a popular phrase. I don’t hear it as much as I used to, but certainly, “Closed-Minded” is a well-established bad thing.

I am seeing more and more the stance that used to connote open-minded as being a closed minded one.

I met a woman at a social event, and she worked with gangster kids. This caught my interest right away. ‘Tell me more about that. I am astonished at the lack of attention given to helping kids stay out of gangs.’

She was surprised at my interest. “What do you want to know?”

I said that I thought we needed to ask until we got an answer. That we should not stop and be satisfied with the bad situation that our children are in.

She was taken with that idea. To ask until you find an answer. But she wasn’t sure you could ever find an answer. In any question, really.

She had a good point. What happens when you find the answer? Are there questions with no answers?

I believe no. There are no questions without answers.

But then, like the hitchhiker’s guide tells us, are you sure you are asking the right question?

Often, the answer to a question will be another question. And when you reach that the question/answer to the question, have you made progress?

I believe yes. I believe that as we sincerely question, even if our questions result in more questions, the understanding broadens. And when we understand we can do more or better than we have before.

I like people who question. I like it when people ask. But I have noticed there are people who ask, but do not believe in the answer. Not that they think the answer isn’t correct, but the deny the premise of an ‘answer’s existence.

They enjoy questions, but only for their own sake. No answers required, or, indeed, allowed. These clever people can deflect any proposed answer with reasons to deny it.

It is as if they wish only to maintain the integrity of the perfect unanswerability of the question.

They stick tot their question until a new more intrigiung question presents itself. Sometimes, this question is what I would call and ANSWER to the first question. But, they don’t think of it that way.

I am interested in asking to the answer. Questions are TOOLS to me, not toys.

list

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I am feeling like writing.

But I am full of too much to write.

Okay, so I will write a list. Maybe it will mean something when I am done.

LIST OF WHAT I AM WEARING (VISIBLE PORTION ONLY)
lipstick (onsale, and slightly melted from being left in the car) VINTAGE MAUVE
BIG coby headphones
pretty gold and jewel earings
white shirt with french cuffs. The shirt WOULD be crisp if I had ironed it, but I didn’t, so I am wearing
Danskin hoodie, teal, which I bought while wandering around bored after work in San Diego. Work trips leave you out of sorts.
Ipod in my pocket, which is not visible, so I shouldn’t count it but I am anyway.
Jeans, with the up-and-down white threads that were fashionable last year in the same way that acid wash was fashionable in the late 80s and which will probably look as dated even faster but which make me feel slightly cool even though I know they are not really cool anymore, if I were a fashionista—oh, and there is a hole on the right thigh.
brown suede nike high-tops

Oh yeah, and a silver watch which is probably broken since it is not waterproof and got overly humidified in san diego and now has condensation on the inside of the glass.

hmmm…That doesn’t really leave me with things to talk about. Maybe I need another list

I know I need to make a list of the things I want to do. i have a lot of good things happening. I tell you the truth, I feel strange with out more stress in my life.

My projects seem small and insignificant.

i remember when I worked at McDonald’s as a teenager. I remember the slow times. I felt like I was stuck in molasses. I couldn’t move fast, because when it was slow, there was no reason, no pressure to do so.

My manager would tell me to move faster. It was a high-pressure environment. But I just couldn’t be inspired.

I did okay. I was never fired from mcDonald’s or reprimanded in any way. I did speed up when the customers lined up.

But, when you don’t have something pushing you, it’s hard to push yourself.

So, i feel like writing. But I have to get my thoughts a little better organized before I can begin.

I guess i need to take the time to do that.