So, N over at Fear and Parenting emailed to tell me that I had agreed to be interviewed by her.
I did?
My state of shock and horror was only enhanced by her copy of my comment on her blog post. Dayum, I need to pay more attention when I'm commenting.... Sigh....
I am a person of my word. So, if you can stand to learn a bit about me, here's our interview.
N at Fear and Parenting: 1. Why did you start your blog in the first place?
I started my blog in 2004 (I think) when blogs were first coming out. We were looking for better ways to interact with people at the Open Grove. We'd had a forum for a long time, but it became fraught with spam and stupidity. We thought that a blog might be the ticket.
I originally blogged on MoveableType, then shifted to something else. I shifted to Wordpress on the recommendation of the tech support at LunarPages (my hosting service). Wordpress was about a year old.
Over time, the blog has grown in a variety of ways. I've never been very comfortable talking about myself, so Claudia rants are rare.
Well, Ok, they are rare in life too.
I try to support, interact and inspire, myself first, but others as well. This blog has drawn such a tremendous community. I've met so many amazing, talented and silly people. I am deeply grateful every day for the blog, the people and most particularly the capapcity to meet and greet like minds.
N at Fear and Parenting: 2. Every week you list your unconscious mutterings meme. What has to be most disturbing response you've received to that weekly post? (Please tell me it's not one of mine!)
I don't think I've ever had a disturbing response. My buddy Van at FuriousBall always puts something in that's a little off. He does that on purpose to wave 'hello'. Or at least that's what I tell myself. Truth told? I leave pretty random things on his blog. Like he has this fascination with Brazillian models and.... Nevermind.
Mostly, I love the way the mutterings reflect the places people are in their lives. So many people are growing, striving and achieving. I love being able to see their process in one post.
I just love mutterings! :)
N at Fear and Parenting: 3. You've got to be one of the most genuinely nice people I've ever met - a true and rare breed to be sure. But no one can be THAT good. What's the most un-nice thing you've ever done?
Boy. I have thought a lot about this question. I don't think of myself as a 'most genuinely nice person'.
I had a really tough growing up. I had it bad at home and was the bottom, smelly kid of my elementary school. Just to give you and idea. The one elementary school friend I thought I had told me at my father's funeral that she used to make cruel jokes about me behind my back. She feels bad about it - because it was extreme and I was always her good friend. But, as she said, 'you know how kids can be'. (For the record, I don't really know 'how kids can be'. I think some kids and people suck.)
I am so grateful for these experiences. I learned at a very early age how fragile a heart can be. I learned how one comment can destroy a person.
Since that time, I've made a lot of mistakes. Usually, my mistakes revolve around speaking about something that's so obviously true to me, but not true to someone else.
I've hurt a lot of people's feelings over the years. I don't think I can pick one moment as an un-nice thing. I know that it's happened. I've learned that hearts break and heal very very slowly.
Online, I try to think about the other person. What might they read here? What might they think?
I don't mind apologizing because I know how difficult it is to communicate - to be heard and to understand.
N at Fear and Parenting: 4. You're one of the few online friends who've met me in person. Was there anything about meeting me that surprised you?
I was surprised at how much we had in common. Simply put: your husband wants chickens (as is my life long dream) and you don't want them (as is my husband's life long goal). I am humbled and awed at this simple similarity.
N at Fear and Parenting: 5. You've been on the hunt to find the secret to happiness for quite some time. What will you do once you've found the goose who lays the golden egg?
I think I've been trying to find out why, given the exact same circumstances, some people are happy and other people are not. It's a fascinating to me, really.
I can't imagine ever staying unhappy. I can't imagine any reason to do that. But people do it.
If you ask them, they'll tell you that they have to. (shrugging) Yeah, I don't get it.
That said, I'm confident in the decades of happiness research collected at the World Database of Happiness. Happiness is pretty simple.
- Know what you want.
- Believe you can get what you want
- And have the capacity (health, mostly) to work toward what you want.
That's about it.
The tough part is knowing what you want. ;)

Want to be part of the fun!?! I know you do! Follow these instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.