You Asked, I Answered!

Yesterday, I invited you to ask me anything! And you did! Here are this week’s questions and my answers.

Scott from Spacehaggis.com asked:

If you jump back in time to say your mid teens and relive your life from that point. What would be the 3 things you would do differently?

At the end of my teens, there were lots of things I wished I had done differently. I wished I had been more active in sports when I was in high school, for one. But to have done that would have meant not being involved in school publications (including my high school newspaper) and I may not have developed my passion for writing. Another thing I would do differently is be more active socially. I was never the type of person that got invited to parties or anything. If someone saw me in town or walking down the street I was always asked about plans for college, never once did someone say “hey, there’s a party over at XXX’s house, you should come by.” I would like to be able to change that. Which leads into the third thing I would do differently…I wouldn’t have waited until I was 21 to have sex for the first time! Maybe if I had been invited to some of those wild parties, I might have been able to enjoy a little naked time a lot sooner in life. I mean seriously! A guy peaks sexually at what, 18? And I didn’t start having sex until 3 years after I had peaked??? Life is not fair I tell you!!

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Scott from Spacehaggis.com asks…

If you could choose whatever person from past or present you would like to have dinner with, who would it be and why?

I was asked a similar question several months ago in a tag interview on my MySpace blog. And if I remember correctly, my answer was my late grandfather, John McIntosh. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t really get to know him enough to really appreciate who he was. That’s not for lack of trying – I remember spending tons of time with him throughout my younger years. But my grandpa was not a young man when I knew him. He was born in 1886. Which would make him 78 when I was born. So he lived through some very interesting times in our history. He passed away in 1979 at the age of 93. But it’s not his longevity that makes wanting to have dinner with him so attractive. It’s the fact that he and my grandmother were never married. My grandparents shacked up! And I happen to think that that is so cool. They were together at a time in history when it would have been severely frowned upon by society to do what they did. But they loved each other – truly loved each other so much, that it didn’t matter to them what anyone else thought. They couldn’t get married because of something to do with benefits one of them (my grandmother, I think) was receiving at the time. Regardless, I would love to sit and talk with him about what they went through and what it was like to live like that back in the 1940’s.

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Ms. TLH writes…

How do you (personally) know when it is real love?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways….

For me, real love is when thoughts of that special someone are occupying my mind constantly and I can’t help but smile, even when the world seems to crumble around me. You might say, but how do you know that’s not a crush? Well…I’ll tell you…I’ve had crushes throughout my life and while those feelings may lead you to think it’s the real thing, the truth is at that point you generally haven’t spent enough time together to let those feelings take root deep inside your heart and soul. You know the foundation is there, but it takes time to really let true love develop.

For me, real love is when you can fall asleep alone and still feel the presence of that special someone next to you, holding you, comforting you – even if they are miles away from you. It’s hearing their voice or looking into their eyes and feeling all of your troubles instantly vanish as if they never existed. Real love is in a touch, that spark that ignites when you hold their hand or from just being in close physical contact.

It’s an emotional connection, when your thoughts seem to compliment their thoughts. When you can finish each other’s sentences without speaking a word. When you can communicate with them without speaking a word.

Real love is acceptance of you for who you are. When you can be completely open and honest with each other about anything and know that your partner will accept you without reservation. Real love is appreciating your partner for who they are, taking an interest in their likes and pleasures and opening your mind to the point of understanding why they like something.

Love is feeling pleasure in every cell of your body just from being close to each other. Love is not noticing the world disappearing from around you when you kiss. Love is a special haircut (to quote the movie American Wedding). It’s being there for someone no matter the hour simply because they need you.

I’ve been in love many times in my life. I’ve experienced love at first site three times. And although past loves may have physically ended, the real love never dies. It remains behind, in the heart and soul.

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That wraps things up for this week’s installment of Ask Me Anything. We’ll do this again next week, so be ready!