No. I’ve trained myself to recognize factors, such as selection bias, that contribute to superstitions. And I try to hold all beliefs only so tightly as they can be shaken away by better understanding, particularly beliefs that aren’t strongly supported by experience and reason.
A mythical one to be sure. Cobbled together and a product of pure imagination. Griffin, Minotaur, Dragon, Vietnamese Unicorn (not to be confused with the kind hung as posters on the walls of pre-teen American girls,) or something of that nature.
Being a traveler who lives abroad, the answer is simple: “Where are you from?”
As a traveler, I can’t grasp tribal / jingoistic people’s obsession with where one fell out of one’s mom, and it always feels a bit xenophobic — as though, noticing one’s foreignness, there is a rush to determine whether one is one of the tolerable foreigners or one of the really bad ones.
As an introvert, the question offends my preference to be talked to by people who have something to say, and to be left alone by people who are just playing out social programming with the objective of breaking silence that they find objectionable (but which I, as a rule, find delightful.) (Even being highly introverted, I can converse for hours with someone who has something to say on a topic that is neither themselves nor me — i.e. I love ideas but hate small talk and interaction for the sake of interaction.)
Plus, it just gets annoying being asked the same question sixty times a day when I’m in more remote parts — a question, the answer to which will be forgotten in three minutes and is merely sound for sound’s sake. In the unlikely event that one hopes to have an actual conversation with me, one must start with something that is not your culture’s default socially programmed question. One must get to at least the second most commonly asked question, a question varies from person to person (in my case, it’s: “Why are you such an asshole?”)
I guess it’s a confession of antsiness to admit that I haven’t experienced such a time. I left home a week before my high school graduation ceremony. I never gave reenlistment serious consideration when I was in the military. There was a several year gap between my undergraduate studies and my first graduate degree. I’ve never left a job teary-eyed.
If it’s the case that everyone experiences such a time, then mine is yet to come.
A Buddha / Bodhisattva (if there’s one about these days.) Why? To feel how his (or her) subjective experience compares to my own.
The Bigger they Fall, The Harder They Are
Regretting having that last kid… (that would be me!)
Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.
A little under six feet tall, medium build, dark hair, olive complexion,…
Just, oh so many of them. Virtually all of them. I’ve succeeded in every breath I took (so far, fingers crossed.)
For a long time, I’d have said that I’d like to be less introverted. However, adjusting my attitude towards introversion, managing it, and recognizing / valuing the strengths that derive from it has been one of the most enlightening and empowering processes of my life. (So, I’m keeping it.)
However, I do have an ulnar impaction in my wrist that I’d be happy to get rid of (if anyone with such powers is taking requests.)
Tiger Riding for Beginners 