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Its 5 Questions time!
My all time favorite meme, Five Questions. Today's questions come from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thewronghands
1. What one thing in nature do you feel most closely connected to? Why?
The wind. Its kind of silly, but you know those stop motion animation shows that come on around christmas time. There was one about Jack Frost. One of the things that Jack Frost was able to do was whistle up the wind. He would whistle and the wind would come to him. When I was young, I used to pretend I could do the same. Though I wasn't very good at whistling, so I would make these "doo doo doo doo doo" sing-song noises instead. Sometimes it really felt like the wind was coming to my call.
Also every living thing on this planet shares the same air, it connects us all, and the wind can be its "voice". Sometimes I like to think it can carry the well wishes of those I love to me.
2. If you could write one great novel, would you want to do it now or in your old age?
I would write it now. Old age isn't a guarantee. I guess I am a frustrated writer, and writing the great american novel is definatly one of my fantasies. I am best in the short story department. My longer peices have a way of getting started and never finished. You know I would like to at least finish one novel length peice of writing.
3. What do you think are the most important characteristics to being a good parent?
First I would say patience. Of course Love has to be there. A sense of responsibility.
4. If you had to live the rest of your life in one never-changing season, which season would you choose?
Thats tough. My favorite season is autumn. It is a liminal time, that seems to me to be overflowing with magic. But if I had to spend the rest of my life there, I doubt it could sustain that magic for me. Autumn is all about the transition, if I am not actually going into winter, with the hope of spring beyond would the magic still be there? Given the choice of one, unending season, I would have to choose summer. Just like when I was kid, wishing summer would never end.
5. Which is more important, mercy or justice?
Mercy. To tell the truth, I think there would be a lot of miserable people if we all had to atone for every mistep we make. But if we lived in a world without mercy, maybe we would behave better.
I was thinking about my father earlier today. There was a lot done and not done that I could have held him accountable for, wanting him to atone for it in some way or another. Though I don't know how he could have. It was better just to forgive him. It was better to offer mercy if you will, and enjoy the ten months I had with him before he died instead of demanding justice and seeing that he make up all the disapointments to me.
That is not to say that justice is not important. There are most definatly things people need to be held accountable for. One should not be able to cause suffering without consequences. There are crimes that affect me in such a visceral way (such as any harm to a child) that I would have a hard time exercising any mercy in those cases. But the thing is, I am not a court judge, and its really not up to me to see these evil people recieve mercy or justice. I can only mete it out in my own personal life.
It is very unlikely that I will ever have the fate of a criminal in my hand, but if I do (say on a jury, or in a violent situation where I was in the position to do something) it is my hope that I would be able to balance mercy and justice and have a right outcome. Since we are delving into a hypothetical situation, say I was in a store being held up, and a gun was against my head. I think the right thing to do would be to disarm the guy and hold him until the cops came (balance). Not let him hurt me or others (absolute mercy) nor take his gun and shoot him in the head (absolute justice).
thewronghands1. What one thing in nature do you feel most closely connected to? Why?
The wind. Its kind of silly, but you know those stop motion animation shows that come on around christmas time. There was one about Jack Frost. One of the things that Jack Frost was able to do was whistle up the wind. He would whistle and the wind would come to him. When I was young, I used to pretend I could do the same. Though I wasn't very good at whistling, so I would make these "doo doo doo doo doo" sing-song noises instead. Sometimes it really felt like the wind was coming to my call.
Also every living thing on this planet shares the same air, it connects us all, and the wind can be its "voice". Sometimes I like to think it can carry the well wishes of those I love to me.
2. If you could write one great novel, would you want to do it now or in your old age?
I would write it now. Old age isn't a guarantee. I guess I am a frustrated writer, and writing the great american novel is definatly one of my fantasies. I am best in the short story department. My longer peices have a way of getting started and never finished. You know I would like to at least finish one novel length peice of writing.
3. What do you think are the most important characteristics to being a good parent?
First I would say patience. Of course Love has to be there. A sense of responsibility.
4. If you had to live the rest of your life in one never-changing season, which season would you choose?
Thats tough. My favorite season is autumn. It is a liminal time, that seems to me to be overflowing with magic. But if I had to spend the rest of my life there, I doubt it could sustain that magic for me. Autumn is all about the transition, if I am not actually going into winter, with the hope of spring beyond would the magic still be there? Given the choice of one, unending season, I would have to choose summer. Just like when I was kid, wishing summer would never end.
5. Which is more important, mercy or justice?
Mercy. To tell the truth, I think there would be a lot of miserable people if we all had to atone for every mistep we make. But if we lived in a world without mercy, maybe we would behave better.
I was thinking about my father earlier today. There was a lot done and not done that I could have held him accountable for, wanting him to atone for it in some way or another. Though I don't know how he could have. It was better just to forgive him. It was better to offer mercy if you will, and enjoy the ten months I had with him before he died instead of demanding justice and seeing that he make up all the disapointments to me.
That is not to say that justice is not important. There are most definatly things people need to be held accountable for. One should not be able to cause suffering without consequences. There are crimes that affect me in such a visceral way (such as any harm to a child) that I would have a hard time exercising any mercy in those cases. But the thing is, I am not a court judge, and its really not up to me to see these evil people recieve mercy or justice. I can only mete it out in my own personal life.
It is very unlikely that I will ever have the fate of a criminal in my hand, but if I do (say on a jury, or in a violent situation where I was in the position to do something) it is my hope that I would be able to balance mercy and justice and have a right outcome. Since we are delving into a hypothetical situation, say I was in a store being held up, and a gun was against my head. I think the right thing to do would be to disarm the guy and hold him until the cops came (balance). Not let him hurt me or others (absolute mercy) nor take his gun and shoot him in the head (absolute justice).