I'm terrible at talking about myself. I hate bragging or boasting, so anytime I'm asked about who I am, or what I'm doing I either drastically undersell myself or clam up and don't say anything at all.
So this year, in conjunction with my One Little Word: Write; I'm going to make a promise to myself to learn to talk about myself in an open and honest way.
I'm kicking this off by interviewing myself. I know that I do much better when I'm asked specific questions. I figure if I interview myself and answer a bunch of questions, it will be one step closer to being able to clearly articulate about how I feel.
I picked out 27 of the 33 questions from this post on a blog about personal development. I'm a big believer in waking up each day and trying to make yourself a better person, so I invite you to join me on this journey of self discovery through personal writing.
1. What Do You Do For A Living?
Right now, this is what I do. I blog, I design, I scrapbook, I teach. Eventually I’d like to go to grad school (specifically a PhD program in Women and American Politics). But for now I’m living my life and telling my story through pictures, art, and words.
2. Who Do You Love?
I love lots of people. Mostly I love Jeffrey. He’s my person. Together we can do things that neither one of us could do alone. I still wake up every morning and love him more than I did the day before. There are lots of other people too. My parents and my sister. Rebecca. Samantha. I’m an INFJ – so I tend to cultivate a few very strong relationships, and those relationships really mean the world to me.
3. Do You Think You Are a Good Person?
Yes. I think it’s part of the whole ‘waking up every morning and trying to be a better person thing’. I have very strong morals. They are my own morals, and they definitely aren’t the traditional morals. But I have a code, and I stick to my code. I respect people who have a code and stick to it. There are times where I slip into being a crappy person – especially when I’m tired or hungry and start to get snarky; but that’s why apologies were invented. And you can really only become a better person each day if you assess the mistakes you made and try to not make the same mistakes again in the future.
4. How Old Are You?
27. Today I turned 27. Honestly, I think I’ve been the same age forever; I just gain experience and wisdom with each passing day. Sometimes I’m a mature adult, and sometimes I’m a silly kid. – This is the way I want it, and I really hope it never changes.
5. Who’s Your Best Friend?
Jeffrey. He’s my person. He’s the person I go to when I have something happy to tell someone; and he’s the person I go to when I have something sad I need to tell someone. We met while working at the census in 2009. I still remember the first time I saw him – he was trying to explain the word ‘word’ (the slang term) to a strange older woman. I spent the next two months slowly trying to figure out if he liked me (turns out he did). We’re pretty great for each other. We foster each other’s interests and help each other to grow. We have the best time together. We’ll just start chatting about something silly, and next thing I know it’s 3 hours later and we haven’t stopped talking.
6. How Often Do You Laugh?
A whole bunch. Especially on happy days. I have a dry and witty sense of humor – which really doesn’t get across to everyone, but I can at least amuse myself :).
7. What Makes You Smile?
1. Other people smiling. 2. Stuff in rainbow order. 3. People in love. 4. Cute animals. 5. Social justice. 6. Good design. 7. Text messages from friends. 8. A great photo. 9. People overcoming adversity. 10. Amazing views.
8. Who’s Your Most Dangerous Enemy?
Myself. I’ll logic my way into a bad place and then not really know how to get out. I can be extraordinarily self-destructive when things are bad.
9. Where Do You Live?
North Arlington, NJ. The town in which I grew up. Jeffrey and I moved back here in May of last year to be closer to my parents and my sister before I started applying to graduate schools. We live in a two family house with our landlord downstairs. The area feels like home, even if I can’t change our house around the way I’d like to. Eventually I’d really like a house out in the country. My ideal home is an old farmhouse that’s been moderned up a bit on the inside. I’m really starting to feel that itch to make my physical home more my own; so I’ll be looking forward to moving whenever we can do that.
10. Do You Think You’re Strong?
Sometimes. Most of the time actually. It just seems to fall apart when that self-destructive streak of mine comes along. I’m exceptionally strong when I’m being super stubborn. I’ll work my ass off to prove that I can do something when someone’s told me that I can’t.
11. What Was The Most Important Thing You’ve Done So Far?
Getting out of my last relationship. I was stuck and I wasn’t growing as a person; but we had been dating for seven years, living together for a few years and near the end we were just staying together out of habit and convenience. Having the strength to get out of an ‘okay’ relationship and trusting that there was something more out there for me was definitely the most important decision I’ve ever made.
12. What Was The Most Stupid Thing You’ve Done So Far?
I don’t know? I’m really not sure. Probably injure myself in some way; but I don’t think I could narrow it down to one specific thing.
13. Do You Love Yourself?
I love who I am almost every single day. I truly do. Again, it’s all part of the ‘wake up every morning and try to be better than you were the day before’. I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses, and most of the time I think I’m actually a pretty awesome person. Unfortunately, there are a couple a days a month (they come around the same time each month) where I get super depressed. Total change in my personality. I go from loving myself and thinking that I’m kinda great to absolutely hating everything about myself and getting totally lost in a cloud of my own (temporary) depression. Of course if you know anything about depression, it never seems temporary, even if the logical side of you knows that every sad thing you’re feeling will go away in 48 hours.
14. What Is Your Favorite Word?
Super. I say it constantly. Go through my blog posts; I use the word super in like every other sentence. I talk the exact same way. I go through phases where I latch onto a word and use it a lot; penis and generational have also been on my radar for the past few months.
15. When Was The Last Time You Cried?
Monday. I had a really really terrible morning and a panic attack. Eventually I calmed down, took an afternoon shower and turned my day around.
16. What Is The Best Thing That Could Happen To You Right Now?
Somehow a magical roadmap to figuring out my business plans and grad school would fall into my lap.
17. Picture Yourself In 5 Years From Now
I’d like to be in grad school. Probably married. Probably having a baby.
18. Do You Regret Anything?
I regret going to school where I did. I think I should have gone to a smaller liberal arts school; or the all-girls school at Rutgers. I have plenty of reasons for why I feel this way. Mostly, I think I would have figured out who I am and what I love a lot earlier than I did.
19. What’s The First Thing You Do In The Morning?
Stretch. Take my headphones out and my eyemask off. Then I usually grab my phone and read the news for a little while. I don’t like rushing into my mornings; I have a much better day when I can ease into my to-dos.
20. What Are You Thinking Just Before Going To Bed?
Harry Potter. I listen to the Harry Potter series on audiobook to fall asleep every night. It’s my key to falling asleep. I can’t sleep without any noise; but I also have a really hard time falling asleep if there is external noise – I find myself trying to pay attention to whatever is going on around me. The perfect solution for me was headphones and audiobooks. It’s like I get to fall asleep with someone reading a story to me.
21. What Was The Highest Point You’ve Ever Been To?
The top of the Sears tower. I love seeing things from up above. I love the window seat on airplanes for this very reason. It’s one of the biggest reasons that Griffith Observatory was my favorite spot in Los Angeles. I just love seeing the view from the top. I’ve been meaning to check out some of the skyscraper views in NYC, but I just haven’t made the time yet. I’m sure the viewing area at the Freedom Tower will be amazing when it’s done.
22. If There’s One Thing In Your Life You Want To Change Right Now, What Is It?
I’d want to feel better. No more cluster headaches and no more of the rest of the health problems that come along with it.
23. What Are You Proud Of?
Going back to school and dealing with all the BS that went with it. It was so much harder than it had to be, but I did it; and now it’s done. It was the one thing that was always hanging over my head, and now it’s finished and I finished it well.
24. Sum Up Your Life In One Sentence
Waking up every day trying to be better than I was the day before.
25. Name The Thing That Annoys You The Most
Liars. I can’t stand people who lie. I’m very good at telling when people are lying to me, and it irks me to no end when people try to mislead others.
26. Do You Have Secrets?
Yes. Everyone has secrets :).
27. What Makes You Laugh?
Witty & dry humor. Jeffrey. Politics. Great TV shows. Getting tickled. Great one-liners. Whatever I’m doing for my own amusment
And one final question
Are You Happy?
Almost always.
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