Tuesday 6 April 2010

Life's conundrums- je regrette rien?

My lovely writing tutor posted this thought-provoking question to egg us on with our life-writing assignments:

"Imagine that you have been able to time travel back to an important episode and that it is no longer unchangeable. Instead all the choices that you once had before you (left or right, to marry or stay single, to stay or leave, to have a child or not) are to be made again – what happens next?"

It's really given me something to think about. I mean I made some pretty cathartic choices in my life and I can honestly say hand on my heart that I don't regret any of them, painful though they were.

If I did I'd not be where I am now.

But this question really opens the floodgates for some pretty interesting writing scenarios..

It's a question Charlie-cupcake takes in his stride.

To go left?

Or right?

Or back into the house - where incidentally his nerve-wracked human is trying to stop the urge from scooping him up and bringing him in! :-) ?



Possibilities are endless...

And this one is for Donna Hoise (whom I just discovered is off to New Zealand so oopsie!): a BBC link to the brand spanking new and ever so good Dr Who.

And to my blogger twin Ann of Inkpots and Quills: we really are twins. I had one follower disappear – but in my case, they did so probably in horror at my hot cross buns! LOL!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

48 comments:

Deborah said...

That was good. To go right or left..My cats come back in!
Have a nice day!
Deborah

Jacqueline said...

That is an interesting question; thought provoking, but bittersweet none the less...I do have regrets and things about my past I wish I could change, decisions I would have made differently, but you are right, making certain changes in our past would effect the outcome of today...and I am content with myself in this moment in a way I've never been before...Acceptance grants us freedom from so many negative feelings; it's so powerful and so simple at the same time...Charlie looks wonderful outside with your plants, he's such a lovely boy=I just love his fluffy furs and tail!...Good luck with your writing assignment...Be happy, let's all be happy with now.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Yay more pictures of Charlie! Boo, to whoever stopped following you and Ann :( It must have been a mistake, who would ever not want to follow such lovely blogs??!!

Susan Fields said...

That is a fascinating question! I would change my college major. Electrical engineering - what was I thinking? I hated it from Day One. But then I wouldn't have met my husband, and that's no good either. Hmmm...fascinating question.

Melissa Cunningham said...

Super interesting blog. I wrote about the same thing last week. Small world. Stop by to follow my blog if you want. I found you by way of Karen Gowen.

Great post!

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

It's a great questions...What would you do differently? Hmmm...Have you ever read any of the choose your own adventure stories? They are good fun. They have questions in them and once you answer the question you have to to turn to a different page and outcome.

Anonymous said...

It looks like Charlie is trying to decide which pot plant would make the perfect toilet!! hehe

Cheyenne -Millie said...

Interesting post! We often wondered what life would have been like if we hadn't stay here in this house! And so many other ifs....

Theresa Milstein said...

It's funny that you were asked that question by your tutor because another blogger just posed a similar question and I've been asking myself the same thing these days. There are so many paths to take - so many lives to live - so many people to love. We never know if we've chosen wisely or made the best choice.

I'm glad you're comfortable with your choices. The less regrets we have, the happier we are.

Charlie seems to like his new surroundings. That tail is like a duster!

Brian's Home Blog said...

Yep, that's a great question, but I really wouldn't change anything, otherwise I wouldn't be here to answer this question and I wouldn't have found you and Charlie. Oh, I say scoop him up and go inside...scary out there! As for the follower that left, hey, it happens, it had to be a human though because a cat wouldn't do that!

Kea said...

Ah, so Charlie ventured forth. I hope he was okay!

That's a great question, one I often have pondered over the past decade. I can tell you one thing I would change, and it's not even avoiding the ex: I would have wanted to be diagnosed and treated for depression decades ago, and gotten into *good* therapy. I can't say what choices I would have made about relationship and jobs, etc. if I had, of course, but I would like to think that I might have had the life skills to better deal with all the cr*p. I'd like to think I would have made emotionally and mentally healthier choices.

Jenny Woolf said...

Yes, I agree with the idea of not changing any decisions in the past. But I would perhaps change the way I reacted to them at the time. Things that worried me, that preoccupied me, that I TRIED to do (and failed) - I can think of lots of those. But I don't think that would make such a good basis for a story!

Marg said...

That is a great question. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to change one or two things but I am very happy with where I am right now and have learned to be positive about what I have and for sure not to worry about what I don't have. Just enjoy each day as it comes along.
And Charlie you be careful out there in the big outdoors. Don't wander far. Charlie will make the right decision. Have a great day you two.

Ann said...

I can't believe you lost a follower! You are such a consistent blogger and commenter. No accounting for some.

I have often wondered about this right or left thing. Wondering where life would have taken me if I taken the opposite course. It is great fodder for writing isn't it. Have you seen the movie, "Sliding Doors." With G. Paltrow. It deals with this question.

On a side note, bought a lovely pair of fuchsia shoes for Easter!Zippers and all.

SuziQCat said...

I don't know what changes I would make in my life...I think I am too set in my ways for change. Sometimes I wish I were brave (or crazy) enough to just up and move and start over...have an adventure. Oh well...we can all dream.

Anonymous said...

I think we are where we are because of all that went before and this is where we are meant to be. I would have trouble letting Charlie go out too!

Anonymous said...

I wonder this a heck of a lot! There are one or two things in the past that didn't go particularly well for me and where I still don't know exactly what was going on around them but I do know I blundered through doing the worst possible things I could possibly have done :) But then again who knows, maybe I was just always meant to get a bit psychologically knocked about by this age! :)

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

Interesting possibilites...all of us have made decisions of one sort or another that would be better changed. I know I would do a few things differently. Yes, it would change the path but hopefully for the better, not the worse, although there is no way to know. There is no decision in my past that haunts me, but there are things I wish I could alter.
Charlie is so handsome and I just love love love his coloring and oh my what a tail!

purrs
>^,,^<
Abby

Talli Roland said...

Happy Tuesday! Old Kitty, those hot cross buns looked fine, seriously!

Have a great day!

Kat_RN said...

Spontaneous would probably just sit down in the middle of the path and have a bath. I know just what you mean about not changing things. Even my dumber moments add up to who I am now and I really like my life.
Nice post.
Kat

Anonymous said...

No regrets this end, fortunately. But I lost a follower today too! I reckon someone was having a clear out...

kaylee said...

I have just read your whole blog.
I crying in parts , laughing in others,
You have your very on writers
voice. It is lovely !!
Please, I would like to follow on
facebook, my name ( drumroll)
is kay Lee Kelly .
I am sorry for your loss of Old Kitty
an rejoice in Charlie finding you
Thank you for sharing !!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

You are just like me as I grow everything in big flower pots! No dirt in my yard ..only concrete and a wood deck. I love to garden so I cope with flower pots.

I can't let Bo out of the house ..he chases the birds! He can move pretty fast when he sees a bird at my bird feeder.

That was an interesting prompt from your professor. I wonder if we went back in time, after knowing what we do now, if that would make us understand our lives better and why things happen the way they do? I'd just like to be young a thin again for one day! lol

Sometimes people end their blogs and that is why they drop off as a "follower" I try to never let that upset me.

Felted House said...

What a fascinating question - I do sometimes wish I could have changed some things, but then as you say, I wouldn't then be exactly the person I am now, and it's not good for me to imagine other scenarios, but better to count my blessings and be content with what I have and where I am now. Which I am!
Charlie is SO fluffy! I can understand your desire to scoop him up, I've only just let Archie out in the garden but he's firmly in a kitty harness each time at the moment, which he doesn't seem to mind at all! xx

Old Kitty said...

Hi Deborah

yay for your cats! Charlie's silly he runs back in then out!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Jacqueline

Oh you speak so wisely! Acceptance is definitely a major thing one can do to move on and be happy and content.

:-)

Oh Charlie's tail is needs its own groomer/servant to keep that fluffy!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi KarenG

That's what I say!!

:-)

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Susan Fields

Ooooh I like that dilemma. I really do. It's like if you had changed your major... just think of the changes.. but then I'm such a romantic at heart, I think that you would have met your husband anyway cos your were meant to be...

Awwwww!

:-)

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Melissa J Cunningham

thank you for popping in! Of course I'll come and see your blog - sounds very interesting!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Sharon K Mayhew

Ooooh I haven't but I will now - I love these what if scenarios!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Niki

LOL!!!

Awwww more like which plant to nibble - he's been nibbling non-stop, the silly cupcake!

:-)

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Cheyenne-Millie

It really does make you think doesn't it, what if you made the other decision..

:-)

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Theresa Milstein

It's so interesting when I look back in retrospect and hindsight (as I'm doing now in my course) and I'm so amazed at the decisions I did take, all the whys and hows...!

As for Charlie - the amount of times I've had to brush bits n pieces from it..!! it's such a full time job!

:-)

take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Brian!

Awwwwww! A cat (and doggy too) would be too nice and lovely!

Oh I've scooped Charlie back several times these past days! He is very good though, the second he hears a car or footsteps, he's back in!

Yay!

take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Oh Kim

That's so poignant! I do see the difference with being treated early and how this would have better equipped you in later life.

Oh I just want to give you a great big hug! I personally think you are this strong and lovely person no matter what depression tried to do to you!

p.s Charlie has turned out to be most sensible when outside. The moment he hears a car or footsteps, he is inside the house asap! yay!

take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Jenny Woolf

Of course they would!!!! Definitely - take a situation past and think if I had reacted this way instead of that.. then what?

Definitely something there to expand and explore!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Marg

Awwww I am so glad that you are happy where you are right now - that's a great feeling and very precious!

Charlie is a very sensible cat, really and truly! He knows when there's a car coming and doesn't like hearing other footsteps so he runs in the house asap! What a great cat!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Ann!!!

I've not yet started with my spring shoe shopping!!! I have made a list though...

LOL!

Your pair sounds lovely - pic please!!

Sliding Doors - oh one film I've never seen and want to now - it does have a happy ending right? I hope so!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi SuziQCat

Oh dreaming is good!!! I dream of adventures all the time!!

Then again, why not - you never know SuziQCat... I hope your dreams come true!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

hi wildcatwoodscats

amen to that! so so true!

Oh I was most nervous for Charlie but he's proven to be so sensible - he only like staying out for about 10 minutes or so and is straight back in to sleep all that adventure off! LOL!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

hi hampshireflyer

Awwww please don't too knocked about psychologically - I worry!!!

:-)

i always say things happen for a reason. always. it kind of makes me feel better when the outcome is a bit not what I expected...

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Abby

Isn't it just so intriguing? There really are all these possibilities...!!

But I'm glad you're happy where you are now.

Oh Charlie's tail is truly amazing!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Talli Roland

The hot cross buns are no more! LOL!!

The insides weren't too bad actually...

:-)

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Kat_Rn

Awwww I love the name Spontaneous - I really do!!

And I'm so glad you like your life now!!

Definitely je regrette rien!

Yay!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi kate_m

What is these with followers decamping day?!?!?

Oh dear!!

nevermind, their loss! you have a FAB blog!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

hi kaylee

Awww thank you for popping by and thank you for your sweet comment!

I'm afraid I haven't a clue about facebook... but I shall try to see if I can link to you via facebook...

:-)

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Pat@Mille Fiori Favoritti

Oh you know that was my main concern - the poor birds! So far (touch wood) he's been content to just watch. and I stay with him all the time! and he has a collar with a bell.

I much prefer pot plant gardening too!! So much easier and more compact!

Take care
x

Old Kitty said...

Hi Felted House

Oh so glad you are happy and content with the now - it's a great, great feeling!

Awww I'd love to see Archie in his little harness!!! He is such an adorable kitty!

Thankfully Charlie seems to like staying out for very short periods and he's not (touch wood) bothered the poor birds or small mammals! Phew!

Take care
x