Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
Once an artist makes a piece of art (a book, a painting, a song, a sculpture, a play, etc.), finishes it and puts it out into the world, what role, good or bad, does the artist play in the work?
Can a good person create bad art? Can a bad person create good art?
How important is the artist to art?
Related questions: What is “good” art? Why do we like what we like? Why does music evoke emotion? How does art influence daily life? What are the benefits of fiction?
We all do things that we know are bad for us, for our individual selves or for our society or for our environment. And yet for one reason or another, for pleasure or convenience, for personal ease or peer pressure, we do them anyway.
What do you do that you know you shouldn’t?
Related questions: How much of our thoughts are our own? What are our responsibilities to others? How do you define success? When is it useful to fail?
From reader Karen:
Even the most well-adjusted person can feel exhausted at times. Our world can be overwhelming, both spiritually and emotionally as well as physically.
When the pressures and stresses of everyday life get to be too much for you, where do you go — literally or figuratively — for respite? Do you have a haven or a sanctuary that is a welcoming place, where you can escape and recharge your emotional batteries?
What is your retreat from the world, and how does it help you?
Related questions: Why do we put up with unhappiness? What is emotional well-being? How can we maintain wonder?
There’s a monotonous nature to most of our lives: We get up; we go to work (which often requires a set of reoccurring procedures); we return home to carry out a patterned set of tasks and pastimes; we go to sleep; repeat. Ask someone, “What have you been up to?” and the answer given back is often something along the lines of “Same old, same old.”
Are the regular, patterned parts of our life where our essence is? Or are unique moments what give life meaning?
Dear reader: How important is the repetition in our lives?
Related Questions: What makes you you? What is important? How can we turn ideas into actions?
Our culture has changed tremendously over the last few hundred years. Our life expectancy, literacy, access to different foods, access to different places, how much information we have and the way we process it, the technology that supports us, what we know about the world and how we interact with it.
What have these differences done to us, genetically, physically, mentally, emotionally? How have we changed?
Related questions: What is time? How have we changed the world? How much does our past determine our future?