Blogocentric Formulations

Three Things #1: I Can't Go Without...

I'm piggybacking on Tornado Dodger 's prompt for blog posts about "three things" in a variety of categories. I'm not sure if this is going to be a daily thing, a "post them all this weekend" thing, or a "whenever I get around to it" kind of thing, but I'm committed to blogging about everything on her list. For reference, the categories are:

Theme: Three Things
Three things you can’t go without.
Three celebrity crushes.
Three favorite book characters.
If you had to evacuate your home because of a natural disaster, what three things would you take with you?
Three pet peeves.
Three things you’d do if you weren’t so afraid.
Three favorite TV shows.

I might as well take these in descending order, here are the three things I can't go without. And I'm interpreting "can't" to mean something I really, really care about and would be devastated to be without... mostly because the three literal answers would be "food, water, and air" and those just aren't as fun to write about.


Art. I wouldn't want to live in a world that doesn't produce art. And I'm using art as an umbrella term for everything from painting to sculpture to music to architecture to stand-up comedy, and to the stories created for books, movies, television, video games, etc. No matter what form it comes in, I can't think of anything better than experiencing the beauty in this world created by fellow human beings. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't regularly experience and appreciate the creative art that other people put out in the world.


New Experiences. I'm not the kind of person who is content to just do the same thing day in, day out. I'm always excited by the prospect of the unknown, whether it's traveling somewhere I've never been before, eating food I've never tasted before, or moving onto new jobs when the existing one feels a little stale. There are some people who are happy working the same job for their entire career, or always ordering the same thing at the same restaurant every Friday night, or reading the same favorite book over and over again... and that's just not me. I need the excitement and adventure of new experiences on a fairly regular basis.


"Me" Time. While I do genuinely enjoy getting together with friends, and venturing out to see what the world has to offer, I also need a fair amount of time to myself. I'm a naturally introspective person, a thinker, and someone who is mostly an introvert at heart. I have to have chunks of time that are just for me to be alone. Depending on the mood, I may want to read, go for a walk, write, even nap. I'm generally considered a pretty friendly, easy to get along with kind of guy, and a big part of the reason I have that laid-back kind of personality is because I spend a good amount of time in isolation processing things on my own in my own way. I don't even want to think about what kind of a personality I would have if I didn't have those moments of self care. If I had to constantly be around people and interacting with them all the time, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't handle it well.