Hi Happy Scrappers!
Polly Liana here, with some tips for getting to know someone better. Years ago, I used a popular online dating site to try and find the man of my dreams. Day after day, night after night, I would go out on dates with lots of different men, engaging in chit chat and learning more about them. Some conversations were easy, others were excruciatingly difficult. One day in a bookstore, I came across this book:
As I flipped through the pages, I found a treasure trove of interesting questions, in logical categories. Some were simple yes/no questions, others were so deep that it would take pages to answer fully. I bought the book and from then on, right before I’d go out on a date, I would flip to a few random pages and pick some questions I thought would be interesting to ask my date. It was such an eye-opener and it made it so much more fun to have conversations. Also, I learned so much about the men with whom I was meeting.
One of those men became my husband and he was equally intrigued by the questions in the book. To this day, when we’re on long trips I will bring the book and we’ll take turns asking questions. The one rule is that if you ask it, you have to answer it, too (that way neither one of us could ask a really tough question and be off the hook from answering, too).
Shortly after my future husband and I started dating, my beloved Mom was diagnosed with a very rare and dangerous cancer. I would make the long trip from Boston to my hometown in Hawaii to visit her often and we’d spend days and days together, often in hospital recovery rooms. I used the questions in the book to pass the time and ended up learning TONS of new things about this woman about whom I thought I knew everything. At one point, we realized that my future kids would never get to know my Mom in person, so I videotaped a bunch of her responses so my kids could see what an incredible woman she was. (Here are some snippets of the video, in case you want to see just how amazing and hilarious my Mom was. The Tennessee Ear Wiggling Story & Names of My Grandparents) I am so thankful for that video– my daughter watches it all the time and loves to see her “Tutu” tell jokes.
I’ve also used the questions to document certain things about myself for posterity. It comes in very handy for scrapbooking. Here’s an example of my most recent one, done with the products from this month’s BYOC:
Friends, with all the focus on screens–both big and little– these days, we’ve stepped away from the fine art of communicating. I challenge you to turn off your technology for a bit, find some good questions (and a new–or old– friend) and take some time to get to know them better. Another idea? Find some good questions and scrap your answers. Years from now, you and your family will be so glad you did!
Enjoy the start to your week,
Liana ;-)
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