I heard something today, and I thought it was particularly blogworthy: "The entire world is a narrow bridge, but the main thing is not to fear". Somehow that struck me as extremely profound. I don't know who is the originator of this - I heard it in shul today.

But if you've come here, chances are you've come to see a little bit of the ol' Monday Mission. I shan't disappoint!

1. Do you have a favorite piece of poetry or prose written by someone else? Care to share it? Unfortunately, I have many, many bits of prose I would like for people to read. Most of these are by Christa Wolf. If you haven't read Patterns of Childhood(Kindheitsmuster) then you must. I also recommend Brother Sleep (Schlaffes Bruder), by Michael Ende (the guy who wrote Never Ending Story).

If it is a quotation you are looking for, here is one from Christa Wolf, The Quest for Christa T. (Nachdenken Über Christa T.) If you've ever read anything by Ernst Bloch, this should sound familiar:

We aren't anything yet, but we shall be one day; we haven't got it yet, but we shall: that was our formula. The future? The future is going to be Quite Different. Everything in good time. The future, beauty and perfection, we're saving them up, as our reward, to be paid some day, for untiring industry. Then we shall be something, then we shall be something.

But as the future was always thrust along in front of us, and we saw that it was nothing but the extension of the time that moves with our own movement, and that one can't ever reach it - then we had to start asking: How shall we be? What shall we have?

Time cannot stop, but one day there'll be no time, unless one stops now: are you really living now, in this very moment, really living?

When, if not now?

2. In High School, did you enjoy creative writing? Do you currently do any other writing in addition to your Blog? Oh yes, very much. I am best at essays, but I used to love writing poetry. I think most teenaged girls do though. I do quite a bit of writing for my job - some of it "creative".

3. Have you ever noticed that the Blog entries you least expect to get the most comments do, and those you expect to generate a lot of feedback don't? Which Blog entry of yours surprised you by getting a lot of comments? Which one did you think would generate a lot but didn't? I've realized recently that I'm sort of writing for myself - I don't have many readers. I don't get surprised by a lack of comments anymore.

4. Sometimes you get a chance to make a lifestyle change that has a huge impact on the course your life takes. That is, a moment where something became very clear to you, and that realization changed your life, such as: the need to leave a relationship, to stop an addiction, to bond with someone, to start a new career, and so on. Have you ever had an "awakening" moment in your life? I am lucky enough to have had several of those. The most important one had to be when I left my marketing job in the marketing department of a well known frozen food company, when I was asked to help with the translation of an ad that would convince the French that french fries were vegetables. I knew at that moment that I hated what I did for a living and began applying to grad schools. I quit the job three months later.

5. Then there are other times where you can have a huge impact on someone else's life. You suggest they see a doctor, stop them from taking that last drink, or maybe just say some kind words at the moment. Have you made a lasting positive impact on the life of someone else? I have no idea. I'd like to think so though.

6. Are there any charities or organizations which you support? How did you come to be involved with them? Oh yes. There's Amnesty International, there's the WWF, and lately, there is Mazon, a Jewish organization that goes to feeding the hungry. There are more, but these are the ones I pay attention to the most. I got into the first two when I was in college. Mazon I learned about recently from a friend.

7. Care to collaborate with me? Help me out and write the rest of this poem: No, sweetie. but thanks for asking.