What is your character?
Are you smart? Are you shallow? Are you funny? Are you bitter?
Are you honest with others? Are you honest with yourself?
If you see someone hurting, do you wrap your arms around them and tell them everything will be okay? Or do you think, “That’s too bad,” and mind your own business?
Would you knowingly hurt another person? If they hurt you first, would that make it okay? Would you feel bad about it later? Or would you just think they got what they deserved?
Do you love another person more than you love yourself? Are you okay with that, or does it scare you too much?
Do you cry at weddings? Are they tears of hope? Joy? Jealousy? Disappointment?
How do you cope with grief? Heartbreak? Success?
Which concerns you more – what other people think of you, or what you think of yourself? Do you see other people for who they are – or what they can offer you?
Which do you cultivate more – your appearance, or your soul?
Do you think before you speak? Do you think before you act? Or do you act on impulse and worry about apologies later? Are you aware of how your actions affect others? Do you care?
Do you learn from your mistakes? Do you own them? Do you forgive yourself for making them?
Do you forgive others for theirs? Really forgive them? And then do you forget? Really forget?
How hard do you work to present a happy image of yourself to the world? Why do you do that?
Are you interested in travel, culture, history? Are you open to new things – even other points of view?
Does it make you angry when other people don’t agree with you? Confused? Curious?
Are you the life of the party? If your answer is yes, why? Do you have something to prove? If your answer is yes, what?
Are you too scared of change, or not scared enough? When life doesn’t go your way, do you do something to fix it? Or do you just accept the hand you’ve been dealt?
Do you roll with the punches?
Do you have a positive attitude? Do you see that as a strength, or a weakness?
Are you grateful for what you have? Do you appreciate the music, art, poetry, beauty, LOVE in your life — or are you always just looking around the next corner for whatever’s next?
Are you a score keeper?
Do you listen to people? REALLY listen? Do you ask your friends, partner, children, what they REALLY think about life, love, god, hell, art, politics, history, the world? Do you ask them what they want from life, what makes them happy, what moves them? Do you really want to know?
Can you be quiet with someone and still feel connected to them?
Do you believe in magic? Ghosts? Love at first sight?
Soulmates?
What matters most to you in this world? What drives you? What value do you add to the lives of the people you love?
Do you have integrity? Do you have a strong moral fiber?
You don’t have to answer it all. Maybe you don’t HAVE answers for it all. But think about it. Are you proud of who you are?
What is REAL about you?
I want to know.
What is your character?
Stumble it!
Tags: let's get deep
October 15th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Thats a shit-ton of questions!
It may seem like the easy way out, but I’m the epitomy of a Sagittarius.
The Good:
Optimistic and freedom-loving
Jovial and good-humored
Honest and straightforward
Intellectual and philosophical
The Bad:
Blindly optimistic and careless
Irresponsible and superficial
Tactless and restless
Some things I know about me…I forgive and forget. I abhor arguing. I just want everyone to get along. Fiercly loyal. And I’m not proud to say it: The world revolves around me.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:15 am
yes …totally…I’d like to think so…sometimes……brutally.
you can *insert* here as most of my answers are interchangeable.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I can’t answer all of your questions as in depth as I’d like to, right now, so I’m going to dovetail off of this and post about it…with linkage back to your awesomeness. BUT…in short, I try to be a good person. Don’t always succeed, but the intention is always there.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Oh GAHHHHH I suck. I’m going back to bed.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:31 am
question onslaught.
me thinks bejewell has been hitting the starbucks. hard.
you wanna know? you wanna know the truth??
i can’t handle the truth.
so i throw sarcasm and apathy around my relationships to shield them from hitting me and possibly knocking me down. i am honest, but will lie on infrequent occassions, mostly to protect myself and generally about meaningless information. i am naturally funny and loving, but have a real problem with showing sympathy, empathy or giving others warm fuzzies.
also, i love homemade macaroni and cheese; margarita pizza and spicy zinfandel.
beyond that, it’s all just digging in emotional dirt with me.
feel better lady bean?
October 15th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I’m a lurker. But I’ll drop in to say “hey” here.
I love the questions. They really bear some thinking about… not just right now, but a bit everyday to really keep growing and working towards something good. Question: how long did it take you to think all of them up? That’s a big list! So, in that spirit (because you DON’T really want to read ALL about your readers), drop by my blog sometime and check me out. It’s a person’s daily face they put on that tells you what you need to know about them.
Happy Thursday. Cheers!
http://wackymummy.blogspot.com
October 15th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
These are some heavy questions……
I think I am a good person. I am smart, I went to college, but do not have a degree. I have common sense, which in some cases is better. I am optimistic, but have occasional doubts. I am an honest person, but will tell a little white lie on occasion. I have a LOT of empathy, this can sometimes be a problem. I have anger issues, get depressed, and hold a lot of feelings inside. I appreciate sarcasm, I do it myself. I am shy. I always feel like I need to be the strong one, but I would really like for someone to take care of ME. I want to FEEL loved. I love wholeheartedly, but it is hard for me to forget. I try to be a great mom & wife, but feel like I fall short most of the time.
Before I get even more in depth, I should probably stop. I have probably said too much as it is………
October 15th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I lie to myself a lot. I have issues with my temper that are usually a result of deflected embarrassment. I am an escapist and protect myself with layers of daydreams. I procrastinate. I waste people’s time. I am not always reliable. My talk is often much bigger than my walk. I am not always generous when tolerating others faults. I fail myself and others on a daily basis.
I fight all of these things continually. I will continue to fight all of these things until I die. I am dogged about being a better person. And I am making headway.
Some days that’s the best thing I can say about myself. I am, indeed, making headway.
October 15th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Well damn it, between this post and the meme I got tagged on (Thanks a lot, smalltownsmalltimes) there is WAY too much introspection required of me in the blogosphere right now.
I will say this, unequivocally: I believe in soul mates and love at first sight.
And I think you’re fucking awesome.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
suspicious of all these questions . . .
October 15th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Methinks Beej is low on material to write about and wants to use us!!
I think I am fairly well liked. I am funny, yet caring. Curious, yet cautious. Opinionated, but I don’t tell anyone what they are, more often I agree or offer non-committal answers. I am creative but lazy. which brings me to the end of my answers…I don’t feel up to the mental workout.
Thanks for the thought provoking post…still can’t get past the notion that there is more to it…
October 15th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
You could also have a look at my post about realizations at a funeral to get an idea of my personality…
http://merlotandtheinternet.bl.....tions.html
Shows my thought processes nicely I think…
October 15th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Gosh, Beej…you’re generating some very deep thoughts and you didn’t curse once…Who is this?? Really? Where’s the real Bejewell???
October 15th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
My character: a misplaced pocket of resistance in just about everything for 65 years.
i am sometimes smart, sometimes really, really dumb; sometimes deeper than i should be; sometimes way too much superficial; i am often pissed but never bitter; people are people and i refuse to let them make me bitter.
i try very hard to be honest with others, but sometimes i lie in my attempt to be honest. i am always honest with myself, but many times being honest can fool me.
Sometimes i take people in my arms when they are obviously hurting. Sometimes i walk away because my priorities are screwed up.
i can remember four times in 65 years that i knowingly hurt someone from a personal standpoint. i have felt guilty about all four ever since. i have hurt many people innumerable times with no intention of doing so. i feel badly about those, but not guilty. Many of both got what they deserved, but that did not make me feel any better.
i love most people more than i love myself, but i fear this does not show. There are five people i love completely more than myself, and i hope they know that.
i have cried at one wedding: my daughter’s. i expect to cry at one more. The tears were of losing and gaining and of my daughter moving into a new phase of living, which i think equates to hope.
i cry alot with grief, heartbreak, success, and kindness from others.
i am too old to worry about what people think of me, but occasionally, those worries prick my conciousness. This mostly now concerns financial security. i want my friends to like me, but at my age, being honest and wanting to help others is a higher priority than my image.
My appearance is past concern. Fitness is another matter. My soul is a torment, hopefully making me a better writer.
i care about my reactions and my responses too much, but i frequently respond immediately from emotion. This is not a good thing. i want to be understood, and the reactive responses eliminate the possibility of understanding.
i try to apologize more than required. There are too damn many people who think this is a weakness. i think it’s a strength.
i always forgive, completely…except for two things, which shall not be revealed, and for which i will never, ever forgive.
i am totally committed to being responsible for my actions. i have learned from most of my mistakes but continue to make some of them over and over again.
i think people like me and i certainly cultivate that. i like people and sometimes i compromise too much in trying to make them like me.
i have spent most of my life traveling and hope to continue. It pisses me off that most people my age and people with causes won’t listen to new and different opinions and ideas. i am not a lemming (or a liberal or conservative), and proud of my independent, hopefully knowledge seeking philosophy.
i am sad when other people, who believe they are right, spend our time preaching to me rather than considering options. i am getting close to not caring one way or the other and just muddying their water.
i can be the life of the party and have been many times, but it seems so inane. Now, i like to watch.
i should be too old to change, but i refuse not too. i still need to grow. Not changing brings atrophy at any age.
i have rolled with the punches too much.
i have a positive attitude because i have a wonderful wife, two wonderful daughters, and an incredible grandson. Personally, i am a tad on the negative side. The former is a strength, the latter could be either.
i am satisfied with what i have, and i love music, art, knowledge, really good fiction, and physical exercise.
Oh yeh, i love the LOVE in my life and can’t wait for what is next.
i am only a scorekeeper in golf.
i listen to people but sometimes my experience and my predjudices keep me from hearing what they say, especially when i know they are not listening.
Quiet can be the great connector, especially during a walk in the rain on the beach.
Magic, ghosts, and love at first sight are alive and well in my mind.
i wish i could find all of my soulmates, and they could find me.
Wife, daughters and their families, parents, brother and sister and their families, and friends matter most. i have had my time to make other things important, but these remain what is really important to me.
i have integrity and a strong moral fiber, but it is my own and far, far short of my father’s.
i am not proud of who i am. There are too many dark shadows in the alleyways of my past. But i am satisfied i have tried.
i am not sure i am real at all.
My character is a cross between Bugs Bunny and William Faulkner.
Damn, that wore me out, but i love your depth, your ability to strike my sensibilities, and your lack of fear in moving from humor into deep reflection.
i am proud of you.
October 16th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Ohhhh, I love this post. I may have to craft one of my own around it, but I would like to think that in my writings and dealing with others most of who I indeed am shines through.
Are you going to the NYC BlogHer? Because I think you are someone with whom I’d like to spend a goodly chunk of time.
October 17th, 2009 at 2:02 am
I think I am too complicated and fucked to answer this correctly
October 18th, 2009 at 11:10 am
I think that, first and foremost, I am lazy.
Otherwise, I would totally answer all those questions.
October 18th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I am the woman who will always answer “I’m fine” or “OK. Things are OK,” when someone asks how I am. I do this because I feel that to allow my thoughts to explode over them would be an inconvenience, and really, who wants the mess of that all over themselves? Also, I fear the rapid decent into the ugly cry if I was forced to elaborate, so, really, I’m sparing them. I try very hard to make the people around me happy, but now I need to get back to what makes me happy. I just have to figure out what that is. I do believe in soulmates, but I also believe we’re not always meant to be with them. I am not always a downer, too, despite how this response seems to read.
October 19th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I’m usually pretty good at keeping my temper under control. I try and stay calm, I listen to the snide voice in the back of my head when she points out that being quietly cynical is much more relaxing than getting worked up, even when it means I revert to unhelpful amounts of sarcasm, but occasionally, I still do get insanely worked up and shouty. By balance, I tend to calm down easily, and am for the most part tolerant and easy-going. I don’t hold grudges, but then, I tend to think of grudge-holding as something people do consciously and actively rather than laying grievances away in abeyance and reviving them on a whim, which I have been known to do, albeit infrequently.
By nature, I’m a very contrary person, but also am also introspective, curious and reasonably intelligent. This means that, while I’ll intially dig my heels in if someone tells me I’m wrong, or suggests a different way I might go about doing something, I am usually able to go away, think about it and admit fault, or change my behaviour. This is something I have to work at, actively: I’m stubborn in my habits. Paradoxically, I like to think of myself as being spontaneous and adventurous, because these are qualities I value in other people, but in reality, I’m probably much more stolid than I’d happily admit.
Sometimes, I take jokes too far, but I always apologise afterwards. I’m imaginative and good at putting myself in other people’s shoes, which possibly makes me a good writer, and also a decent judge of character. I like myself, though it’s taken me a while to realise that all my daydreams about doing something different and being someone else aren’t a sign of discontentment, so much as a reflection of the fact that I love possibility, daydreaming and spinning narratives about choice and behaviour – even my own. I am messy to live with, but generally honest. I’m not as good a listener as I want to be, because it’s so hard for me to switch off my own thoughts and repress the desire to voice them, with the result that, all too often, I talk over the top of people. Hopefully, though, I’m getting better at that.
October 19th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I’m not a real person. I’m a figment of your imagination.
October 19th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
PHEW.
Finally did it.
http://pgoodness.com/2009/10/2.....questions/
Thanks.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I am totally going to copy this and make it a post — with credit to you of course. (Unless — you stole it.)
October 26th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
I want you to know I keep coming back to this post and torturing myself with it. In my reader, on the page, naked in bed at night, by memory.
I am utterly ashamed at some of the things I think about when I start reflecting on these questions.
And I still think you’re fucking awesome. So either:
a)I LIKE IT WHEN IT HURTS, BABY or
b)YOU ARE THAT FABULOUS.
(both)