A hard definition…

Which aspects do you think makes a person unique?

What flame or glimmer of character makes a person unique? I guess everyone has their own foibles, that could be size or shape, colour or religion or none of the above. If identical twins can have their own thoughts and ideas then everyone has the ability to be unique if they are allowed to be.

Most of all I think it is in the mind that the unique aspect lies, nature versus nurture is the phrase that people use, but life is chaotic, it twists and turns, there may really be a multiverse out there where every step in one direction or another changes the outcome of a person’s life, but some of it has to be down to how they think and react? How else can you explain the diametrically opposite results that can occur in families, or how sometimes similarities between non related people happen? All I can say is its good to be unique!

always an artist

Daily writing prompt
When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always drew for as long as I can remember and I knew I wanted to  be an artist. I stuck drawings up on my bedroom walls as I got older, i would copy pictures of Asterix the Gaul, or draw Elizabethan people with ruffs round their necks and wonderful clothing. When the walls got covered I strung string across my side of the bedroom and hung my drawings and paintings on with clothes pegs or sellotape. As I got better at art I was asked to do a painting for one of the deputy head teachers who was retiring. I remember painting portraits of some of my school mates as if they were in the school playground in clothes that would look very old fashioned now. Eventually one of my paintings got sent to a display of childrens art in our twin town in Germany. That was a big highlight of school life. Luckily I got to go to art college, and here I am, still doing art all these decades later!

Rarely

How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?

If I can help somebody I generally will. I do think about it though. I have gone out late at night and picked up a friend because she missed the last bus home, I have helped people out even though it inconvenienced me. Why? That’s the way I was brought up. Fair shares, kindness, modesty were things that we had drummed into us. Don’t be selfish, don’t be jealous. We were not perfect, but we could see that if you helped others it makes the world a better place. Yes there is a risk of getting ripped off, but I don’t give money away, I’d rather help.

Talking about scams, a man stopped us in the street outside our house. Can you give me the bus fare to a maternity unit several miles away? I have gone to the wrong hospital in this city and my wife has just rung to say she’s having the baby! Instead of offering money I said I would drive him to the right hospital. Needless to say he turned us down! Strangely another man stopped us with the same scenario a year later. I couldn’t resist offering a lift too, and when he said no I asked him if he had a brother who had the same problem a year ago. He walked away…..

Questions?

I’ve started doing the daily prompts on here but I can’t help wondering about giving away information. I’m not the most interesting person in the world, and I don’t want to share stuff that could allow me to be scammed. So I don’t share per names, or relatives names. If anyone did get into my pages they would find I have a separate password for everything. Capital letters, numbers, symbols, long words. So password protected is real in my case.

I do talk about my past life sometimes, but it will be vague, and I try not to identify with definite dates.

The prompts are questions, which I’m not sure I like to answer, and yet they make me think of things that I would not necessarily write about otherwise.

Cabbage

Green leaves are good for you, full of vitamins and minerals…. Don’t over cook them. Cabbages are lovely but they do smell. My hubby says they have mercaptans, a compound with a hydrogen and sulphur compound in them and Di methyl and tri methyl sulphide compounds. Sulphur is one of the essential elements in DNA and RNA, I’m not sure which amino acid it is in but they include Adenine, Guanine, Cytosene, Thiamine in DNA and Urasyl in RNA. (I learned this from my O level biology).

Thinking of school reminds me of school dinners and the cabbage smell from the kitchens! The cabbage was cooked till it was a wet soggy mess… Not hard to chew, but not nice.

Some plants and animals actually live on Sulphur compounds deep in caves and deep in the oceans because there is no light for photosynthesis. They can have anaerobic metabolisms if there is a lack of oxygen. Then the caves they are in can become acidic.

This was part of a discussion with my hubby, he’s the scientist, it’s interesting to talk things through. I do find things fascinating. (if any of this is wrong please tell me in the comments, I am not a scientist).

Portal

Step through the portal and walk into another time, another continent perhaps?

That was the challenge she faced one night on the way home from visiting friends. The dark was split by a hole or tunnel glowing with blue white light and paved with what appeared to be stone. A gentle voice emanated from the apparition. ‘Choose your destiny’ it whispered, ‘travel in the fourth dimension to wherever you wish’.

She thought about it. Gift or curse?, ‘One Question’, she asked. ‘Can I return back to here, to now?’ ‘I cannot answer your question’ said the voice. ‘That would depend on if this time continuum continues in its present condition’.

‘Nah!’ she said, ‘not a chance’, and walked away…

Confidence, what’s that?

How would you rate your confidence level?

Yes, OK, I do have reasonable confidence levels after years of lacking it. I think you do become more confident as you get older and more experienced. But (and there is always a sneaky but in there) it can easily be knocked because I sometimes over think things, and then worry and anxiety knock my confidence.

Why? At various times I’ve been bullied in my life, and that makes you question what you are doing. It’s hard to give a robust explanation if the person bullying you is your manager. Then the ability to think things through is an advantage, to realise that you haven’t got it wrong, but it can knock your confidence.

Another thing is the feeling of imposter syndrome. When you get a job and then wonder why you feel confused by how you actually got there? So many responsibilities, and I’m doing it? Having to think up reasons why someone can get permission to do one thing, or be denied another? Get it right and the feeling of elation can give your confidence a boost.

But writing? Looking back at this I’m confident I’ve used too many clichés! Oh to be young with all the massive confidence people have these days? No, I think expecting everything to be wonderful all the time is a mistake. We have to learn from them to grow more confident.

Not knowing

What makes you most anxious?

The world I’d bleak and I don’t know what to say or think. Words and thoughts churn round in my head. I feel anxiety about not getting something right, something I should have done months ago that could have massive consequences now or in the future.

Because I was focused on myself I didn’t see other people or a person who might have needed my help. It’s six months and the Earth has travelled half way around the Sun. That’s 186,000,000 miles. And now I’ve only just realised I should have been there for someone 186 Million miles ago! I feel idiotic, I feel great anxiety that I will not be forgiven. I feel I have lost a chance where I could have been of help…..

Even now, writing this, it seems a trivial response, too self serving, am I writing something that will help, or to just try and exonerate myself. Guilt and anxiety, mixed emotions and sadness…