Answers (2)

For context, you might want to see this blog post, to which this is the follow up.

6) What's the one thing that bothers you most about the world today?

This one was tricky because, oh so many things: the list of things which frustrate me, sadden me and anger me about the world we seem to have created / be creating, is a long one ... In the end, my answer boiled down to something I have written about quite a lot recently: it bothers me,intensely, that so much of our culture, so many of our decisions, seem to be made on the basis of fear rather than of love: that it seems to me is the root of so many of the other issues that seem to be tearing the fabric of our world apart.

7) If you died tomorrow what would you wish you had done?

I guess I would wish I had spent my final day sharing something with all those I love: not just scrolling through facebook to pretend I am up to date with what they are doing! Whenever the time comes, I guess there will be all the people who I care about, who I have all sorts of good intentions about keeping in touch with better but somehow don't: they will be the people who I wish I'd seen one more time, called up one more time, affirmed, laughed with, loved. I know I'm richly blessed to love and be loved by so many people: I hope they know that they matter to me, even if I don't always say so! 

8) If you could be given the date of your death, would you want to know?

This was a question which, round our dinner table with a few different folks, definitely divided opinion. For myself, it was a definite no: I guess I want to live my life to the full irrespective of how long it will last; I want, whenever I die, to have as few regrets as possible and feel I have made the most of my time; but knowing the exact date feels like it would just be such a pressure that it might lead to paralysis and in fact fitting in far less.

9) If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

My initial gut reaction answer was, well, Birmingham; and while I reflected on it at intervals through the week, in the end, I came back to the same answer: tempted though I was by suggestions of sea and sunshine. Birmingham is a place I feel rooted, a place I have come to love as 'home' and while it might well not be somewhere I stay forever, given the option tomorrow, I'd stay exactly where I am: because despite Birmingham's flaws, of which there are undoubtedly many, despite the frequent grey skies, despite all of that, it is a place where I am encircled by a community, or more accurately communities of people who matter, and that is a very good reason to live right here.

10) If you could explore the oceans, travel to outer space, or visit 50 different countries which would you choose and why?

On an immediate, superficial level, I think both exploring the oceans and travelling to outer space would yield much of interest: I can still remember my awe and wonder when I had the chance to see space through a telescope when I was at university, and the beauty of snorkeling in the Philippines. But ultimately I would certainly opt for the countries one: because for me visiting places is never, really, about the landscape: travelling to different countries would give me the chance to discover cultures, and to meet people, and that would win, every single time!

More to follow ...