Five Questions, Five Answers: Pilot

Random interview questions selected from various sources (including myself); the answers I would have provided had they been directed to me personally. The ultimate purpose and goals for doing this are: to generate writing topics for various research and projects, to sharpen my wits and confidence, and to exercise and practice focused expression without interruptive criticism (which I find hard to avoid in real life).

1.       Q: Why the number five for this particular blog template/format?

A: The practice of journalism uses W5 (Who, What, Where, When, and Why). Neuroscience and psychological research shows that five to seven seems to be the norm in terms of the number of thoughts the average human brain can process at once; I chose to keep the things toward the simpler end of the spectrum. I’ve figured out that there are five subject realms that I would like to generally improve in my life (health, wealth, wisdom, good relations, and spirit). There’s a greater chance that I’ll find an answer related to at least one of those respective things if given an open question set that could potentially accommodate all of them, but at the same time keeps a tight limit on things so I can remain focused. I have a terrible habit of over-listing things and tasks. Too many balls hurled at me at once to catch and run with. My hope is that this will help to keep things corralled into a realm of the essential, so I’ll have a better chance of making things achievable.  

2.       Q: Why is this set up in a Q and A interview format?

A: When I’m asked a direct short, yet open-ended, question, I’ll hopefully be more inclined to respond with a short concise, yet open-ended answer that I can formulate to fuller (or better) completion. If I can do that, I can be more competent at focusing on, and relating a good idea, or a poignant and interesting story; using fewer words to stab at the heart of the matter. Besides that, fewer words used means less to proofread later.

3.       Q: Isn’t it strange to be asking yourself these things in the voice of a second person?

A: Honestly, it is. However, I have to get used to it, as being able to respond to this direct form of questioning will be critical if I ever want to succeed at future interviews related to career enhancement, or anything else life enhancing. When I write, I find the kind of voice that I don’t ordinarily have in my run of the mill working day. My written work seems to be a more exacting reflection of my genuine thoughts. Very rarely, during an average day, do I ever encounter the type of person who cares to engage with me with enough of the right combination of the kind of education, respect, honesty, courtesy, dignity, and sort of humour that I’d like to see in another. To have someone like this, I have to actively take the role of a writer, and create this right kind of character who’ll ask me the kinds of questions I want (or need) to hear, and to whom I can respond to comfortably*. Sure, perhaps this all seems strange in this type of public forum; but not any more or less stranger than being one of many in a public congregation crammed together in some church, mosque, or any other temple  structure, collectively begging for guidance and special favours from a great big invisible sky-dwelling being, who, as believed by these people, is actually listening to them, and allegedly controlling their lives. Here, as a questioner, who I know is in control of my life, I’m at least guaranteed some kind of answers I may understand. Here, as the answerer, I get to engage with, challenge, and even defy the questioner, whom I think I should to know better than anyone else. And if it ever comes to be the case where I indeed don’t outright know the answer to the questions posited, it’s a sign that I better get my shit together and figure stuff out.

4.       Q: Where did this idea come from?

A: There is no one source. It sort of evolved from a mish-mash of things: websites offering remedies to writer’s block, observing formatting styles in magazines, other blogs, Gestalt psychology. I doubt if it’s an original method, and I would guess that this technique has already been packaged, copyrighted and marketed in some other guise (that’s one more book idea that’s dead). What sort of got the ball rolling was noting the primary message of a book I read recently called The Gospel of the Second Coming, by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. It was their attempt to create a dialogue from the allegorical character of Jesus Christ, who, by his “second coming”, opened a window to Gnostic philosophy, a system of thinking where one is the dreamer as well as the dream**. They challenged Jesus with questions from a couple other allegorical characters, Simon Peter and Mary Magdelene. I don’t do or practice religion per se. I look at such things now anthropologically. I honestly just read the book because it was really quite hilarious as well as thought provoking. If the jest of this deal was to be both the dreamer and the dream, why not set things up where I’m both the interviewer and interviewee.

5.       Q:  Last question . . . so upon reviewing this, what do you think of the result?

A: Really well. Good flow and continuity, very few stalls and breaks in thought. I see areas where I’ve strengthened my writing style, and yet I see still more areas where I need to improve; over all I can’t complain. Knowing yourself and your flaws is a start. It truly is a reflection of a guy who is introverted, relies more on intellect than faith as his guiding compass for this world, and torn between doing things pragmatically and creatively. There’s just the right amount of stuff exposed to incite enough controversy to spark arguments I want and need to hear.  Maybe enough content here to fashion leading questions for another round of this sometime.

*When the questions start getting uncomfortable that’s probably even a better indication that there is cognitive dissonance; something amiss that I need to work on.

**Too complicated to explain here; remember, I came here to keep my questions and answers direct and simple