2: Your ambitions as a child and your ambitions now.
My ambitions as a child kept changing. Music, acting, politics, writing, law. I knew I wanted to do well in school and get a university education, which I achieved. But beyond that everything was pretty nebulous. Which is probably why I got a double major in English and Social Anthropology. Sure sign of someone who doesn’t know what they want to be when they grow up.
As for now, I want to see my kids not fail. Several of them have struggles that I never had (namely ADHD), so I don’t expect them to match my over-achieving academic performance. But I don’t want them to fail, either. I want them to get at least average grades and to find hobbies and areas of interest that they love and that they want to pursue in the future. My main focus right now is on them.
On the other hand, I also have personal ambitions. I’ve written two novels, neither of them currently worthy of publication, and I’ve started two more, one of which I am actively writing and one which is on the back burner due to time constraints. I also have a small collection of original short stories which I’m actively submitting in pursuit of publication. My main personal ambition is to become a published author. I don’t care if I’m a best-seller, or anything. I’d just like to get my stories out there.
I’m also enough of a realist to know that this path doesn’t work out for many people, so if it’s not really going anywhere by the time my toddler is in elementary school I’ll probably look into going back to school to get a Masters degree instead of continuing the writing.
9: How would you explain your idea of ‘true love’?
This one is so freaking hard. I was in love only once before falling for my husband, and I was very young and naive and inexperienced. So I only have that 10 month relationship and this fifteen year one to base my ideas of love on.
That short love was true and it was real, but even at the time I don’t think I ever believed it was lasting.
Lasting love is something you have to work for. It requires compromise and sacrifice and putting someone else’s needs ahead of yours a lot of the time and insisting that they put your needs ahead of their own a lot of the time. It means not being embarrassed about unpleasant bodily functions in front of each other. It means comfortable silences. It means respecting each other’s right to keep little secrets private, but never keeping big secrets from each other because those can start to tear things apart. It means mutual respect. It means willingness to sexually experiment so things don’t get stale. It means growing together. It means standing by each other when times are hard as well as when times are good. It means playing together. It means taking care of each other when you are hurt or sick. It means being good enough friends to keep things going when the initial passion and excitement are gone. And I’m sure it means hundreds of other things that I have yet to figure out.
Lots of love can be true, but it won’t always be lasting.
I guess that’s kind of an answer?
