Here are more questions and
answers. Read at your own risk.
How can we focus on others and not ourselves? How do we
show love to anybody and everyone?
—Reflecting in the Southwest
I do not have answers, just ideas and theories that I struggle to live out in real life. So if you want solid advice go ask someone else.
My opinion is that we cannot show love to anybody and everyone without learning to focus on others rather than ourselves. But that very premise is entirely contrary to human nature. We are acutely aware of ourselves and our emotions and our own comfort. To be able to focus on someone else, we have to care more about their comfort than our own. It goes without saying this is only possible with the help of God, and even then we will have to contend with our humanness.
However, all that being said, I think the best step you can take in learning to focus on others is learning to accept yourself and who you are in Christ. When I have accepted who I am, I become comfortable with my faults and with my abilities. I’m not spending time comparing myself with those around me. I’m not trying to live up to some standard in my head that I think will make me be “enough.”
When I’ve truly accepted that I am not perfect and that God loves imperfect me just because He is God and God is Love, I am overwhelmed by His goodness. Because I am basking in His love rather than trying to earn His love, I find less room for judging others in my heart. I begin to understand that others, like myself, have been designed by the Creator with positive traits He wishes to use and negative traits He plans to refine for His glory.
I’m sure someone will ask me, “What does that look like in practical, every-day life?”
One time I was at a woman’s house for a meal. One of her dishes came out of the oven somewhat burnt. She never apologized to the guests, she just said, “It’s a little burnt. Feel free to scrape that part off if you want.” That impressed me immeasurably. Her complete humility and realness about the situation made everyone feel comfortable. No one felt the need to struggle trying to eat the burnt parts. No one was compelled to jump in with the near-white-lie of “Oh, it’s not too bad.” We felt comfortable around her table because she was comfortable with herself and her own abilities.
Princess Diana was called “The People’s Princess” for a reason. It was because she had the ability to make others comfortable around her. If you look at pictures of her interacting with children and those who are ill, you will nearly always find her stooping down, her eyes looking into theirs. That’s what it looks like to make someone else comfortable.
Sometimes it might mean getting down a child’s level. Sometimes it means sitting or stooping to be at eye level with someone in a wheelchair. It might mean wearing something a little different to make the visitor feel she fits in. Maybe it’s uncomfortable physically, maybe it makes you different from those around you, but you do it without a sense of embarrassment or making excuses because it makes things comfortable for them. By doing this, you are building a connection. Making someone else feel comfortable and connected is the best way of loving them.
But like I said, that’s my opinion. There are likely many facets to loving others that have never crossed my mind.
Why do the parents of the bride have to carry the greater
expense for a wedding in our North American culture?
—Wedding Wonderer
Finally! A question I could do some research on and get solid answers for. Maybe.
If we go back to Bible times, we discover bride price (Genesis 24, Genesis 29, Judges 1:14-15). In these scenarios, the groom was responsible for compensating the family of the girl he wished to marry for the loss of the work she did in the household. He was also often expected to give several valuable gifts to the bride herself.
Historians tell us there is evidence of bridal dowry in ancient Babylon around the year 2300 BC. This type of dowry was things of worth or money the bride took with her to her new home to help compensate for the responsibility and cost the groom was taking on with his marriage. I’m not sure where the Biblical accounts fall in the timeline of world history, but it appears that with the Biblical references and the historical tradition, bride price and dowry were happening at the same time in different cultures.
The answer to your question, then, is determined by where those cultures spread to. I don’t know much information about how the spread happened (anyone who can explain, feel free to drop me a message or leave a comment), but I will tell you what I do know.
Dowry, as practiced in Babylon, was alive and well in Medieval Europe. This practice continued past the Dark Ages and into the Age of Discovery. Thus, when Europeans began moving to North America, this is the practice that came with them. In fact, the tradition of dowry did not fade out of American practice until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It appears that the bride’s family paying for the wedding eventually became the modern dowry—a compensation for the financial burden now placed on the groom as he prepares a home and provides for the bride.
The practice of bride price is also still alive in many countries such as Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Burkina Faso, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, as well as in many parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Many modern couples (according to Google) are choosing to split the wedding cost more evenly between the two families. Maybe that makes the most sense beings the world as a whole hasn’t come to an agreement as to whether the bride’s family deserves compensation because of the loss of labor or whether the groom deserves compensation for his new burden of responsibility.
Or maybe it just makes things easy for everyone if we rely on tradition and don’t have to have awkward discussions about money.
Why are single women expected to give up their beds to
company, but married people aren’t?
—Obliged to Entertain
Dear Obliged,
I am sorry. If it’s any comfort, know that you are not alone in your distress. Apparently, single people the globe over feel they are burdened with the sacrifice of giving up their beds to married people. Do a quick internet search if you want to see all the reasons a single woman giving up her bed is considered more practical. There are many related to social expectation and how well-acquainted people staying in the same house are with one another.
But my heart of hearts is telling me you don’t really want all those answers. You just want someone to hear your frustration. So here I am. I heard you. Maybe giving up your bed makes you feel like you don’t matter. Maybe it seems that, once again, those who are married are more respected. I’m not sure what the hurt is that comes with it. And then, on top of that, you probably start feeling awful about yourself since now you feel like a selfish person because you don’t want to give up your bed!
My only advice is to buy yourself a bed with a single mattress. It’s a pretty safe bet no one will expect you to give it up to someone else. Or get a dog and train it to howl loudly all night unless it is allowed to sleep in the bed. That might do the trick as well.
What is your real opinion on Sean of the South?
—A Neighbor
Well, I have never met the man in person as some of my friends have. I have never read a single one of his books. I read his daily column maybe 50% of the time, if I round up the average. So my opinion on Sean of the South is limited to say the least.
Here is what I have gleaned from what I have read:
First, he has overcome personal tragedy and managed to live a resilient life. I respect anyone who is able to do that.
Second, I envy his ability to sprinkle bits of humor into his writing in the same way one of my co-teachers salted her food—that is to say liberally. And I admire it doubly because it makes the things he writes about often more palatable to his readers.
Third, I think he works to stay as inoffensive as possible while being truthful about both what he believes and what he doesn’t understand. That’s a tricky line to walk and I admire his sense of balance.
At the end of the day, Sean of the South is human with human problems.
But then again, so am I.
Why does it look like life just turns out for some people
and not for others, no matter how much they trust? I’m thinking about the girl
who made good grades in school, wins at everything, is creative, and doesn’t
even have to get a real job because she marries the boy she’s liked since
schooldays, while some of us have to give up a lot of things we want, hold down
a job when we’d much rather be keeping house, and have health issues or other
problems to work through. Alone.
—Trying to Trust
Oh, dear Trying, I’d like to give you a hug.
Life can be disappointing sometimes. But are you ready for the truth? I’m not sure you’ll like it much. But then again, you knew when you asked that there weren’t any easy answers, no clear-cut direction, no solutions that would fix everything.
One thing I want to say before I go any further is that I think the amount of trust we have is irrelevant to the situation. God has promised we need only have faith as a mustard seed. The matter of importance is where that faith is placed. And placing our faith in God is only half the story. We have to believe in the bigness of our God. We must recognize the love of our God. We have nothing to stand on unless we have complete conviction in His desire for our good.
Who decides what “life turning out” really is? It’s easy to get caught up in believing that the traditional path—easy school years, fun youth life, getting married, having children, growing old with someone else—is the recipe for a life turning out, but I don’t think it’s that straight forward. I’ve heard enough married people who envy their single friends that I think things are a bit more complicated than they appear. Who’s to say that “turning out” isn’t a fulfilling career in education or traveling the world or maybe just inviting people over to your house for brunch?
I believe what a life “turned out” looks like is something we each decide in our own hearts. It has to do with learning to submit to God’s plan for our lives, no matter what it is. It’s more to do with acceptance and less with expectation.
Of course, we don’t like to be told we can’t have something. We want to make that choice ourselves. To submit to God’s plan is the ultimate laying down of our strong-willed nature. And we ridiculous humans (or at least me) are so often pathetically strong willed in all the wrong ways!
Most of the amazing people I have learned to know in my life have overcome tremendous disappointments. Some are married and have children, but some are not. Many have suffered physical or mental health issues, deaths in their families, abusive relationships, or financial hardships. Sometimes it looks like they’ve suffered all of those things, yet they are the kindest, most positive, gentle people I know. They have come through the fire as gold. They have become the victor, not the victim. They have learned to be vulnerable enough to love those around them in spite of the danger of being hurt again and again.
That’s not to say it’s easy. Being single isn’t easy, but neither is being married. I’ve observed enough to know that. You have too, I’m sure. If it’s any comfort to you, the beautiful, intelligent, creative girl who marries the boy she’s liked since schooldays will most certainly not always have everything perfect. The more we learn to know someone else’s heart, the more we come to understand that everyone meets challenging things in life at some point.
I believe that, while God allows difficulties in our lives, He does not stand around handing them out to us needlessly. I also believe “rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Some things we will never know why He allowed, and we have to learn to be OK with that empty space of not knowing. Other things He allows because He knows it will lead us closer to Him if we can accept it. But that’s where the hard stuff comes in, in the laying down of our desires enough to allow ourselves to be drawn closer to God.
It’s never done me any good to ask “Why?” when it comes to my life. I’m not sure if it’s ever done good for anyone. “Why?” is so often a question of confrontation. It’s suggesting to God that I would have made better choices than He has, that I would have come up with answers He hasn’t thought of. At it’s very root, “Why?” is, in essence, not completely trusting in His goodness.
So often I find myself being like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum. My Heavenly Father is trying to hold me close in His big, strong embrace, and there I am, kicking and screaming and struggling to beat the band. That’s not a pretty picture.
As long as I’m struggling, I’m alienating the One who cares about me the most. Sometimes I hardly recognize I’m struggling at all. I think I’m submitted enough. I think I’m trusting enough. But then He reminds me of the way I worry or stress or take on cares that He doesn’t mean for me to bear, and I realize I’m straining just a little in His arms. I’m leaning away from He who will never let me be truly alone.
This isn’t really an answer to your question, just a bunch of rambling thoughts that seemed connected somehow. I won’t pretend to know how you really feel about your life, where your trust is, or whether you’re submitted, but I do have confidence that you are committed to being a Christian, whatever that takes and regardless of what dreams you have to give up. I wish you many blessings.
Do you like sloths?
—A Reader
OK, I really wish I knew who asked this one, but you showed up in the comment section as Anonymous on my last post, so I have no idea how much of the history you know here. This is a question fraught with many dangers. There is definitely not a simple yes or no answer.
Before I proceed, let me say I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen a sloth in real life. It’s possible I’ve seen one at a zoo, but I honestly cannot remember.
A number of years ago I became unreasonably fascinated with sloths. The same thing has happened in the past with camels as some of you may remember, but sloths were different. I researched them as much as I was able, and discovered that we had a lot in common. For example, sloths are highly misunderstood animals. In the early 2000’s, research finally began to be done on sloths in the wild rather than sloths in captivity. This new information showed that sloths in the wild only slept about ten hours a day, rather than the twenty hours suggested by earlier research on captive sloths.
Misunderstood? I could identify with that. People who know me in different circumstances definitely get different sides of my personality. Also, sloths are rather solitary creatures. There are some who like to swim. They live in trees! It was my childhood dream to live in a house in a tree (probably after reading Miss Twiggley’s Tree by Dorothea Warren Fox). And they are slow. So am I. I’ve never been one to whip around and get things done at a high rate of speed like some people I know. I appreciate that trait in others, but somehow I just can’t do it myself. I can also be a little slow at catching on to some of the most obvious things. And because I saw such a parallel for myself in this creature, I adopted it as my mascot.
People who knew about this fascination started sending me sloth pictures and puns and gifting me items with sloths on them. But then it all fell apart.
Sloths hit the mainstream. Suddenly they were absolutely everywhere—on children’s pajamas, tea towels, backpacks, fabric, and so on. I saw something about people who were renting sloths for birthday parties and other special occasions. I was horrified.
Sloths were my own thing, my private quirk, and now I was suddenly just part of a crowd of sloth-followers.
Maybe I would have been OK with it if people really knew about sloths, but this mainstream sloth crowd had no idea. For them, sloths were just a cutesy fun fad. They adored the lovable little images they saw on a pair of socks, but didn’t know the real-life version grew algae on its fur and supported its own mini ecosystem.
I was thrown into a quandary. To stay committed to my sloth mascot meant being mistaken for one of the mainstream followers, and I’ve never loved fads. Or maybe I’m just proud. Whatever the case, it quickly became a problem for me. I could hardly keep liking sloths when everyone else did.
And so I decided to just be quiet about liking sloths. I’m still interested in information about them. I would still like to meet one in person. But I’ve moved on to other interests, other things to research, other new favorites.
There.
You probably didn’t expect that long of an answer for such a simple question.
You also understand at this point that when I asked someone, “Do you like sloths?” there was a lot more going on than just a simple question. Your answer might have made or broken a friendship.
Just kidding.
Maybe.
I think I need to learn to be
less wordy, but I’m having a lot of fun thinking and writing about the random
topics you all have sent me, so thank you!
I’m not at the end of my list of questions yet, and if you have another one for me you are still welcome to leave it in the comments or send it to me in a private message. Of course, if you’re getting bored with this format, that’s fine, too. I’m sure it’s not nearly as fun for you as it is for me.
—Reflecting in the Southwest
I do not have answers, just ideas and theories that I struggle to live out in real life. So if you want solid advice go ask someone else.
My opinion is that we cannot show love to anybody and everyone without learning to focus on others rather than ourselves. But that very premise is entirely contrary to human nature. We are acutely aware of ourselves and our emotions and our own comfort. To be able to focus on someone else, we have to care more about their comfort than our own. It goes without saying this is only possible with the help of God, and even then we will have to contend with our humanness.
However, all that being said, I think the best step you can take in learning to focus on others is learning to accept yourself and who you are in Christ. When I have accepted who I am, I become comfortable with my faults and with my abilities. I’m not spending time comparing myself with those around me. I’m not trying to live up to some standard in my head that I think will make me be “enough.”
When I’ve truly accepted that I am not perfect and that God loves imperfect me just because He is God and God is Love, I am overwhelmed by His goodness. Because I am basking in His love rather than trying to earn His love, I find less room for judging others in my heart. I begin to understand that others, like myself, have been designed by the Creator with positive traits He wishes to use and negative traits He plans to refine for His glory.
I’m sure someone will ask me, “What does that look like in practical, every-day life?”
One time I was at a woman’s house for a meal. One of her dishes came out of the oven somewhat burnt. She never apologized to the guests, she just said, “It’s a little burnt. Feel free to scrape that part off if you want.” That impressed me immeasurably. Her complete humility and realness about the situation made everyone feel comfortable. No one felt the need to struggle trying to eat the burnt parts. No one was compelled to jump in with the near-white-lie of “Oh, it’s not too bad.” We felt comfortable around her table because she was comfortable with herself and her own abilities.
Princess Diana was called “The People’s Princess” for a reason. It was because she had the ability to make others comfortable around her. If you look at pictures of her interacting with children and those who are ill, you will nearly always find her stooping down, her eyes looking into theirs. That’s what it looks like to make someone else comfortable.
Sometimes it might mean getting down a child’s level. Sometimes it means sitting or stooping to be at eye level with someone in a wheelchair. It might mean wearing something a little different to make the visitor feel she fits in. Maybe it’s uncomfortable physically, maybe it makes you different from those around you, but you do it without a sense of embarrassment or making excuses because it makes things comfortable for them. By doing this, you are building a connection. Making someone else feel comfortable and connected is the best way of loving them.
But like I said, that’s my opinion. There are likely many facets to loving others that have never crossed my mind.
—Wedding Wonderer
Finally! A question I could do some research on and get solid answers for. Maybe.
If we go back to Bible times, we discover bride price (Genesis 24, Genesis 29, Judges 1:14-15). In these scenarios, the groom was responsible for compensating the family of the girl he wished to marry for the loss of the work she did in the household. He was also often expected to give several valuable gifts to the bride herself.
Historians tell us there is evidence of bridal dowry in ancient Babylon around the year 2300 BC. This type of dowry was things of worth or money the bride took with her to her new home to help compensate for the responsibility and cost the groom was taking on with his marriage. I’m not sure where the Biblical accounts fall in the timeline of world history, but it appears that with the Biblical references and the historical tradition, bride price and dowry were happening at the same time in different cultures.
The answer to your question, then, is determined by where those cultures spread to. I don’t know much information about how the spread happened (anyone who can explain, feel free to drop me a message or leave a comment), but I will tell you what I do know.
Dowry, as practiced in Babylon, was alive and well in Medieval Europe. This practice continued past the Dark Ages and into the Age of Discovery. Thus, when Europeans began moving to North America, this is the practice that came with them. In fact, the tradition of dowry did not fade out of American practice until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It appears that the bride’s family paying for the wedding eventually became the modern dowry—a compensation for the financial burden now placed on the groom as he prepares a home and provides for the bride.
The practice of bride price is also still alive in many countries such as Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Burkina Faso, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, as well as in many parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Many modern couples (according to Google) are choosing to split the wedding cost more evenly between the two families. Maybe that makes the most sense beings the world as a whole hasn’t come to an agreement as to whether the bride’s family deserves compensation because of the loss of labor or whether the groom deserves compensation for his new burden of responsibility.
Or maybe it just makes things easy for everyone if we rely on tradition and don’t have to have awkward discussions about money.
—Obliged to Entertain
Dear Obliged,
I am sorry. If it’s any comfort, know that you are not alone in your distress. Apparently, single people the globe over feel they are burdened with the sacrifice of giving up their beds to married people. Do a quick internet search if you want to see all the reasons a single woman giving up her bed is considered more practical. There are many related to social expectation and how well-acquainted people staying in the same house are with one another.
But my heart of hearts is telling me you don’t really want all those answers. You just want someone to hear your frustration. So here I am. I heard you. Maybe giving up your bed makes you feel like you don’t matter. Maybe it seems that, once again, those who are married are more respected. I’m not sure what the hurt is that comes with it. And then, on top of that, you probably start feeling awful about yourself since now you feel like a selfish person because you don’t want to give up your bed!
My only advice is to buy yourself a bed with a single mattress. It’s a pretty safe bet no one will expect you to give it up to someone else. Or get a dog and train it to howl loudly all night unless it is allowed to sleep in the bed. That might do the trick as well.
—A Neighbor
Well, I have never met the man in person as some of my friends have. I have never read a single one of his books. I read his daily column maybe 50% of the time, if I round up the average. So my opinion on Sean of the South is limited to say the least.
Here is what I have gleaned from what I have read:
First, he has overcome personal tragedy and managed to live a resilient life. I respect anyone who is able to do that.
Second, I envy his ability to sprinkle bits of humor into his writing in the same way one of my co-teachers salted her food—that is to say liberally. And I admire it doubly because it makes the things he writes about often more palatable to his readers.
Third, I think he works to stay as inoffensive as possible while being truthful about both what he believes and what he doesn’t understand. That’s a tricky line to walk and I admire his sense of balance.
At the end of the day, Sean of the South is human with human problems.
But then again, so am I.
—Trying to Trust
Oh, dear Trying, I’d like to give you a hug.
Life can be disappointing sometimes. But are you ready for the truth? I’m not sure you’ll like it much. But then again, you knew when you asked that there weren’t any easy answers, no clear-cut direction, no solutions that would fix everything.
One thing I want to say before I go any further is that I think the amount of trust we have is irrelevant to the situation. God has promised we need only have faith as a mustard seed. The matter of importance is where that faith is placed. And placing our faith in God is only half the story. We have to believe in the bigness of our God. We must recognize the love of our God. We have nothing to stand on unless we have complete conviction in His desire for our good.
Who decides what “life turning out” really is? It’s easy to get caught up in believing that the traditional path—easy school years, fun youth life, getting married, having children, growing old with someone else—is the recipe for a life turning out, but I don’t think it’s that straight forward. I’ve heard enough married people who envy their single friends that I think things are a bit more complicated than they appear. Who’s to say that “turning out” isn’t a fulfilling career in education or traveling the world or maybe just inviting people over to your house for brunch?
I believe what a life “turned out” looks like is something we each decide in our own hearts. It has to do with learning to submit to God’s plan for our lives, no matter what it is. It’s more to do with acceptance and less with expectation.
Of course, we don’t like to be told we can’t have something. We want to make that choice ourselves. To submit to God’s plan is the ultimate laying down of our strong-willed nature. And we ridiculous humans (or at least me) are so often pathetically strong willed in all the wrong ways!
Most of the amazing people I have learned to know in my life have overcome tremendous disappointments. Some are married and have children, but some are not. Many have suffered physical or mental health issues, deaths in their families, abusive relationships, or financial hardships. Sometimes it looks like they’ve suffered all of those things, yet they are the kindest, most positive, gentle people I know. They have come through the fire as gold. They have become the victor, not the victim. They have learned to be vulnerable enough to love those around them in spite of the danger of being hurt again and again.
That’s not to say it’s easy. Being single isn’t easy, but neither is being married. I’ve observed enough to know that. You have too, I’m sure. If it’s any comfort to you, the beautiful, intelligent, creative girl who marries the boy she’s liked since schooldays will most certainly not always have everything perfect. The more we learn to know someone else’s heart, the more we come to understand that everyone meets challenging things in life at some point.
I believe that, while God allows difficulties in our lives, He does not stand around handing them out to us needlessly. I also believe “rain falls on the just and the unjust.” Some things we will never know why He allowed, and we have to learn to be OK with that empty space of not knowing. Other things He allows because He knows it will lead us closer to Him if we can accept it. But that’s where the hard stuff comes in, in the laying down of our desires enough to allow ourselves to be drawn closer to God.
It’s never done me any good to ask “Why?” when it comes to my life. I’m not sure if it’s ever done good for anyone. “Why?” is so often a question of confrontation. It’s suggesting to God that I would have made better choices than He has, that I would have come up with answers He hasn’t thought of. At it’s very root, “Why?” is, in essence, not completely trusting in His goodness.
So often I find myself being like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum. My Heavenly Father is trying to hold me close in His big, strong embrace, and there I am, kicking and screaming and struggling to beat the band. That’s not a pretty picture.
As long as I’m struggling, I’m alienating the One who cares about me the most. Sometimes I hardly recognize I’m struggling at all. I think I’m submitted enough. I think I’m trusting enough. But then He reminds me of the way I worry or stress or take on cares that He doesn’t mean for me to bear, and I realize I’m straining just a little in His arms. I’m leaning away from He who will never let me be truly alone.
This isn’t really an answer to your question, just a bunch of rambling thoughts that seemed connected somehow. I won’t pretend to know how you really feel about your life, where your trust is, or whether you’re submitted, but I do have confidence that you are committed to being a Christian, whatever that takes and regardless of what dreams you have to give up. I wish you many blessings.
—A Reader
OK, I really wish I knew who asked this one, but you showed up in the comment section as Anonymous on my last post, so I have no idea how much of the history you know here. This is a question fraught with many dangers. There is definitely not a simple yes or no answer.
Before I proceed, let me say I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen a sloth in real life. It’s possible I’ve seen one at a zoo, but I honestly cannot remember.
A number of years ago I became unreasonably fascinated with sloths. The same thing has happened in the past with camels as some of you may remember, but sloths were different. I researched them as much as I was able, and discovered that we had a lot in common. For example, sloths are highly misunderstood animals. In the early 2000’s, research finally began to be done on sloths in the wild rather than sloths in captivity. This new information showed that sloths in the wild only slept about ten hours a day, rather than the twenty hours suggested by earlier research on captive sloths.
Misunderstood? I could identify with that. People who know me in different circumstances definitely get different sides of my personality. Also, sloths are rather solitary creatures. There are some who like to swim. They live in trees! It was my childhood dream to live in a house in a tree (probably after reading Miss Twiggley’s Tree by Dorothea Warren Fox). And they are slow. So am I. I’ve never been one to whip around and get things done at a high rate of speed like some people I know. I appreciate that trait in others, but somehow I just can’t do it myself. I can also be a little slow at catching on to some of the most obvious things. And because I saw such a parallel for myself in this creature, I adopted it as my mascot.
People who knew about this fascination started sending me sloth pictures and puns and gifting me items with sloths on them. But then it all fell apart.
Sloths hit the mainstream. Suddenly they were absolutely everywhere—on children’s pajamas, tea towels, backpacks, fabric, and so on. I saw something about people who were renting sloths for birthday parties and other special occasions. I was horrified.
Sloths were my own thing, my private quirk, and now I was suddenly just part of a crowd of sloth-followers.
Maybe I would have been OK with it if people really knew about sloths, but this mainstream sloth crowd had no idea. For them, sloths were just a cutesy fun fad. They adored the lovable little images they saw on a pair of socks, but didn’t know the real-life version grew algae on its fur and supported its own mini ecosystem.
I was thrown into a quandary. To stay committed to my sloth mascot meant being mistaken for one of the mainstream followers, and I’ve never loved fads. Or maybe I’m just proud. Whatever the case, it quickly became a problem for me. I could hardly keep liking sloths when everyone else did.
And so I decided to just be quiet about liking sloths. I’m still interested in information about them. I would still like to meet one in person. But I’ve moved on to other interests, other things to research, other new favorites.
There.
You probably didn’t expect that long of an answer for such a simple question.
You also understand at this point that when I asked someone, “Do you like sloths?” there was a lot more going on than just a simple question. Your answer might have made or broken a friendship.
Just kidding.
Maybe.
I’m not at the end of my list of questions yet, and if you have another one for me you are still welcome to leave it in the comments or send it to me in a private message. Of course, if you’re getting bored with this format, that’s fine, too. I’m sure it’s not nearly as fun for you as it is for me.
Just keep writing. I have been enjoying your Q&A’s too.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know you and don’t think I have ever seen you but I do really like your wordy way of writing. I am a bit of a “sloth” myself so I understand your fascination myself even if a sloth is not a favorite of mine ( to each their own).keep writing!
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your writings!
ReplyDeleteI was really humored at telling the single lady to get a single bed, or a dog. 🤣
Sometimes another single older person is coming, n the single bed still needs to ne given up, ive just become very suspicious why he wanted a twin bed in his new bedroom. 🤓 A Pecos friend.
Please do Part 3! Love this. You’re better than S of the S!
ReplyDeleteSloths are one of the most intriguing species to watch. They do nothing!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my question for you, Annette! Why don’t you just become a columnist?! (Ask Annette; instead of Ann Landers…) You’re plum good at this!! 👌❤️
ReplyDeleteThis is very entertaining and I had several LOL moments. The single bed saga, SOTS humanness—all topics covered expertly!!
ReplyDelete