This is how I feel today. Blurry. Out of focus. Off center.
Read Gloria’s blog and loved it. She refers to Emma Thompson’s Vanity Fair Proust Questionnaire, reminding me of a page of that magazine I’ve long loved. I have asked friends about it on airplanes, read it many times, and thought about my answers. So, today, from the murk of the empty echoing cavern that is my brain, are my answers.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Insomnia. Lonely, full of ghosts, and I panic about being tired the next day (preemptive anxiety being a specialty of mine).
Where would you like to live?
Cambridge is pretty good. Other candidates include on campus at Princeton and Palo Alto.
What is your idea of earthly happiness?
At the outset of a long flight, looking forward to time just for me. Or an empty afternoon.
To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
The faults of people unsure of their own strength and of their own path.
Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
The Velveteen Rabbit, many of Raymond Carver’s stoic, hardworking heroes, Phineas (A Separate Peace), Harry Potter, the butler in Remains of the Day.
Who are your favorite characters in history?
Joan of Arc, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Georgia O’Keeffe, MLK Jr, June Carter Cash
Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
Oprah, Madonna, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ina May Gaskin, anyone engaged in the struggle to live authentically
Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Mamah Cheney (Loving Frank), Charity Lang (Crossing to Safety), Lyra (His Dark Materials), Eve (Paradise Lost), Mrs Ramsay (To the Lighthouse), Irina (Three Sisters)
Your favorite painter?
Helen Frankenthaler Mark Rothko
Your favorite musician?
James Taylor
The qualities you most admire in a man?
Intelligence, strength, and humility. And the ineffable (rare) ability to make me feel safe.
The qualities you most admire in a woman?
A sense of humor. Not taking her life too seriously. Fearless intelligence, even when it is contrarian. Physical courage & risktaking.
Your favorite virtue?
Patience (one I don’t have). Courage. Constancy.
Your favorite occupation?
Definitely TBD. Am hopeful I will someday know!
Who would you have liked to be?
Pretty much anyone more centered and confident than I am!