I had a funny thought the other day. You can blame it on a decided lack of sleep and an amazing amount of pressure created by the end of the semester.
I don’t remember exactly what caused it, but I had a sudden and rather urgent thought. It was the kind of thought that jumps free of everything else rummaging around in the lower recesses of your mind and bounces up into conscious thought, almost as if it could actually write itself in bold lettering a crossed your vision.
It was “Your questions personified.”
And immediately I had a vision of a small room filled with a whole range of people who were not exactly real, but were real enough that you might find them in your memories of an unfamiliar party.
And my mind immediately said “That would be like an afterlife of your own making. A very real personal heaven or hell.”
So what would your afterlife be like if you had to interact with every question you ever asked in a very real and personal way?
I would probably have a large group of “just plain stupid questions” and I assume most people would have their fair share. It wouldn't be that they were “bad” questions, they just wouldn’t be quick enough to really follow the conversation. They would laugh at the wrong times and try to fake their way through anything more complicated then the most basic of concepts.
I don’t think they would be enough to really bug me, though.
I would have some aggressive questions, probably spawned in days at work with people who didn’t seem to fully grasp what they were talking about.
I’d have some insincere questions around, acting smarmy and a little like used car salesmen. I know I have asked a few of those... They might even be a little loaded, depending on how mean I was at the time.
But what would the majority of my question be? Would they be a collection of
stoics, boring me to death with talk of virtue and value? Would they be whimsical, airy things that seem vapid and empty the longer you talk with them? Would they be a hard working group, kind, generous and wise? Would I find them boring? Would I find them difficult? Would they know how to be funny?
Or would most of them be snide, snippy little creatures that are perpetually amused by the pestering and arguing of people?
I don’t actually know.
I have been taught, throughout my life, to pay careful attention to my words, and I believe that I use what I say carefully and thoughtfully. I know full well that words can do tremendous injury to people and I avoid making rough statements and I try not to speak in haste too often.
But I primarily apply those thoughts to statements. Certainly I consider my questions carefully, for I do not wish to sound stupid, but I do not often ruminate on questions I have asked (unless they are exceedingly inappropriate).
So really, what better way would there be to judge ones life than by the questions they have asked throughout it?
And what better way to design a heaven and hell then by allowing one to make it themselves?
