There is a piece in the Los Angeles Times (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/03/before-i-die-i-want-to.html) about an artist  who put up a ”Before I die I want to…” blackboard on the wall of an abandoned house on which people, using chalk, can fill in what it is they want to do before they die.  The written responses range from ”Finish School” to ”Go 200 m.p.h” to ”HAVE FUN!”  People seem to take easily to responding to the chalk prompt.  It makes each of us think about the things we’d like to do before we die.

For me, I think it would be to have one full day where I feel completely free and unburdened by problems and fears.

Now, what about you? Share with us the thing you want to do before your time runs out.

Make believe that someone said to you the words you always wanted to  hear.  What would they be?

There was an article in the Jan. 31, 2011 NY Times (”Teacher, My Dad Lost His Job. Do We Have to Move?” by Michael Winerip) which talked about how fears about the economy are worrying children who fear their families will lose their homes and have to move.  One elementary school guidance counselor showed children how to make ”worry envelopes” to store their fears.  She gave them also a buckeye to carry in their pockets, for the children to hold in their hands in they feel bad and to help calm themselves.

I’ve been thinking of these ” worry envelopes” and was puzzling over whether writing one’s fears down on paper and then putting them away in an envelope is a good idea to help people when they feel troubled.  In some ways, it’s not much different from my keeping a journal where I also jot down all the things, good and bad, that are in my heart and which I need to acknowledge to gain some peace of mind.   I think the process of writing about fears can be helpful. So, I share this idea about worry envelopes and would welcome your own thoughts, as well as the things you do to help deal with your problems.

Please share with us.

Make believe you are creating an invention to help the world.  What would the invention do?  What would it look like?

Share with us.

What is your wish, hope or prayer for 2011?

I saw a photograph showing an Indonesian boy leaving a message of hope written on a paper flower outside a mosque.  This marked the sixth anniversary of the tsunami that killed 164,000 people in his province.  The flowered messages seem to be a beautiful way of marketing an event or putting a prayer down on paper.  And I was thinking at this time of year, when we celebrate end-of-the-year holidays, what message I might want to leave on paper.

What about you?  What messages of hope would you place on your paper flower?

The Wall Street Journal featured an article Dec. 10 (”The Man Who Said No to Hitler”)  about an extraordinary man, Adolf Busch, considered the greatest German violinist of the 20th century, who refused to kowtow to Adolf Hitler.   When the Nazis came to power in 1933 Hitler and his henchmen started putting into place a policy of systematic persecution of German Jews. The violinist Busch, who was not Jewish, decided to stop playing with his quartet in Germany. He was the only well-known non-Jewish German classical musician to emigrate from Germany solely as a matter of principle.    While he was able to make a living in the United States, Busch’s days of fame were over.

The author of the article, Terry Teachout, asks his readers if they find Busch’s story inspiring.  ”If so,” he says, ”then ask yourself this: How much would you be willing to inconvenience yourself over a matter of moral principle?  Would you sign a petition? Help a friend who was being persecuted?  Pull the plug on your career?  Or would you simply put your head down and hope that your fellow countrymen would come to their senses sooner or later?  Adolph Busch paid an awesomely high price for his beliefs.  Of course he did the right thing — but what would you do?”

Can any of us answer that question with absolute certainty?  Who knows how we would react in a similar situation? I am sure each of us would want to do the right thing, but who knows how we would really respond in such a crisis.   Please share your own thoughts.

Make believe your little pet imparted to you all the wisdom in its heart.   What would it whisper to you?

Share with us.

The question was asked in a recent article in The New York Times (”When the Time for Stuff Is Over” by Joyce Wadler, Nov.25, 2010): What is worth worrying about?

And, the woman being interviewed (Barbara Roche Fierman) said something profound: ”People doing good things on this earth, leaving the world a better place.  It doesn’t matter what you do — if you do for cats, fine; if you do for Uganda, fine; if you do for the trees,” she says.  But ”everybody owes it to the world to make it a little bit better.”

I agree with her completely and do try, in my own small ways, to make things better for people I know or care about.  I may not succeed as much as I would like to, but I try to overcome my own selfishness, my own self-centeredness.

What about you? What do you think of this person’s comments?

Make believe you received the most important message in your life.  What would it be?

Please share with us.