Thursday, November 15, 2012

Let's Play a Game: The Book of Questions


Apart from my devotion to The Book That Started It All, there rests (in the depths of the bins collected from my former classroom) another gem. The Book of Questions is a compilation of philosophical queries that has significantly influenced my deeper thinking as I've grown and matured.

"If you could change one thing about your life right now, what would it be?"
Um...to get ungrounded and get my phone back!

At 14, my friends and I used to chill in my room (HA! Check out The Scent of High School to reminisce with me), tossing these intense questions back and forth. The girls would "go there" and overanalyze every detail (you don't say) and the boys would spit out riotously absurd scenarios you'd just have to shake your head at.

Hey. Reactions vary, right?

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

In my high school classroom, I used these questions constantly.  My students and I would write and discuss responses to prompts from this book. The plain truth is that the discussions we had from these responses were my absolute FAVORITE part of teaching. There's no question there. Oh, how I learned from all the ideas. How I pondered. How I changed and opened up by hearing what these kids had to say...by learning what I had to say.

Anyway. In a nutshell, this book is kind of a life-changer. It just makes you think. Deep. Like, space out-hard style. It won't go away for a week, or maybe forever-style.

So, I wanna go there again. Wanna play?
Starting next week, I'm going to toss one out, a total head spin question that will make our brains hurt.

But we've gotta go there to grow, to know ourselves, to understand others.
I've never been to a psychiatrist, but I believe in what they do. I feel like it's good to dig sometimes, to find out what's in there so that we can put out the best energy while we're here.

I'm doin' it, baby.
You get ready, too, huh?

I'll post the question and toss some of my guts out with it. Feeling open? Spew some of you out too and feel free to link your response to the comments below. It'll be cool to read where other brains take the topic. We learn from each other, right?

Here's my pick for the first question. Think about it and then go at it! I'll post mine soon. You can link here or on my post once it's up. I'm psyched to hear what people say.

Do you believe in ghosts or evil spirits?
Would you be willing to spend a night alone in a remote house that is supposedly haunted?

Whooooooo! What do you say?

8 comments:

Veritas, Pulchritudo et Amor said...

You used to get those questions from a book?! I just thought you were makin' 'em up! haha.

Now, to answer to question. Evil spirits, yes...ghosts, not so much (though I've heard a lot of stories!).

Annnndd, there would be NO way I would stay in a 'haunted' house in a remote area all alone. But not because of the 'haunting' that is thought to happen there, but rather because I'm more afraid of the house being broken into and some creepo coming to get me! I don't even like to stay home alone in my apartment in the middle of West Chester...much less somewhere remote and scary where no one would hear me scream! I'll bring some friends with me and have a big ole party! :)

Brenna O'Boyle said...

I believe in evil spirits more than I believe in ghosts! You just hear more about the bad juju and more movies are about evil spirits! Although... my college has a lot of ghosties that float around! Most of them are helpful, though, they do give me the heeby geebies!

As for the haunted house, I would stay in it all night until something touches me!!

I miss writing in our journals during class! You would turn off the lights and give us 5-10 minutes to write, while a song played in the background! It was relaxing and I miss it!

Shazberry said...

Haha! I love this idea! I believe in evil spirits and ghosts. I kind of feel like they're the same thing, but I suppose a ghost isn't quite so evil, just a trapped soul that's waiting to be freed.

And there is no way in hell I would stay in a haunted house all night. I can barely handle being my house all alone in the dark. The house may not be haunted, but my mind would constantly play tricks on me.

Unknown said...

Mrs. Graham, you have no idea how much i miss these free writes!
Ok here it goes...
Yes i believe in evil spirits but not so much ghosts - at least not in the traditional view of what a ghost is. My feelings toward this come more from my religion i guess? I believe in the second coming of Christ and that when a person dies they just go to sleep till Christ returns. This would mean that their soul stays with them (i get that it's a long time but we've all had the nights when we go to sleep for 2 minutes and it's actually been 8 hours...)Therefore, I believe that ghosts are - and this is probably going to sound stupid but - the devil and his demons and not actually the deceased person's soul lingering about. As for the haunted house - not unless i had to for some reason, and good luck giving me a good enough reason!

Unknown said...

I SO hear you on the creepo fear.

And a party would definitely be a wise way to ease the tension.

If you can't HEAR spookiness over laughter, is it really there? Bring on the buddies! :)

Unknown said...

I love how every college has a ghost story.

Here, we have the legend of "Mary" up in Old Main. It's a good one.
One of our friends used to run outta there to sleep in our, ghost-free, dorm when Mary got frisky. Whoooooo...!

Unknown said...

One of the downsides to living off the main path, huh?
Thank goodness for big, protective pooches, right?

Oh, WHY does our Kaine-dog think the UPS man is an evil spirit? Why o' why?!?

Unknown said...

That's a super interesting take on the topic.

But...what about Casper?!? No friendly ghosts for you?
On a side note though- ANY ghost, sweet or salty would send me sprinting fast. :)