Another Garden Dawdler

---

It’s time for Rory’s Garden Dawdler again — nine questions posed once a week for our answering pleasure.

Back in my garden and impressed with myself on capturing the light through the petals in this image against the bright blue sky.

THE GARDEN DAWDLER — Q&A

You have awaken to a new day after a restless night filled with strange dreams and have discovered a dead person sitting on your toilet. They are a stranger to you. What do you do?
Flush.

Are you a hat-wearing person, and if you are, which style do you favor?
I like hats but I don’t wear them often as I find the pressure on my head to be uncomfortable. All the hats I currently own are either “baseball” caps or winter hats. My favorite hat ever was a red Nike running cap that I snatched from the lost and found at work during high-school. It was just perfectly comfortable and cool (to me). For winter hats I like funky patterns and tassels. I don’t think you can look cool wearing a winter hat so might as well embrace the silliness.

How many posts do you create and publish each week to your blog?
Generally I don’t have a specific plan and the number of posts I make vary from week to week. April was an exception as I had several projects that involved daily posting so there was a significant bump in volume. I feel a little guilty if I post too often as I feel like it increases the reading load on my select few regular readers. I’m not sure I should feel this way or not, but I do.

How often do you talk to strangers?
Pretty much every day due to the requirements of navigating life in a city environment. However I’m counting strangers as anyone that I don’t know including store clerks and such. I rarely talk to a stranger with no specific context/purpose behind the interaction.

How many tee shirts do you own?
Too many, but not enough that actually fit. The hazards of growing wider with age. I should do a donation run for all the clothes that I’ve outgrown but part of me doesn’t want to let go of the idea that they might someday fit me again.

Do you or have you ever ironed socks? If so, why?
I recollect once ironing my Christmas stocking. It was a self-made stocking and the fabric wasn’t optimal so it was a bit wrinkled and I needed it smooth to apply my name (with glitter glue).

Do you spend too much time online, and would you know if you were spending too much time online?
I certainly spend a lot of time online as it’s part of both work and recreation/relaxation nowadays, but I wouldn’t say I spend too much time as I still make time for other things that I enjoy. If I found myself in a position where I wasn’t doing any creative writing/drawing because I was spending so much time surfing online then that would signal to me that I was spending too much time online.

Does your family or any of your real-life friends read your blog, and perhaps more importantly, do you let them, or do you want them to?
My mom is a regular reader (hi mom!). I’m fine with friends and family reading my blog. I’m a fairly open book. However I do use a pseudonym and don’t generally share about my blog with colleagues at work unless I’ve already developed a strong relationship and some trust. There have been some times where I wanted to write truly anonymously and I once set up a separate blog with a different pseudonym to do so, but I never actually used it and recently gave up the site as part of a de-cluttering effort.

What do you think the secret is to living a happier life?
The strange thing is that it’s not really a secret so much as just difficult in practice. I think most of us understand that we are happier when we practice gratitude and mindfulness, when we take care of ourselves physically and emotionally, when we surround ourselves with others that enrich us with their positivity and support. The challenge is that it seems against our human nature to consistently do these things. I can choose to do things that make me more happy or not…and for some reason I chose to do things that make me unhappy quite frequently. Very frustrating. The happiest times for me are when I’ve built healthy habits of gratitude, self-care, and positive social connecting such that they become less effort and more routine.

---

Thanks Rory for the interesting questions as always. I look forward to reading everyone’s responses.

---

Be well,

Monty

---

• Horizon
• Wound Up
• Playful