Share Your World Meets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

One of my favorite gifts that Harry Potter received came from the Weasley Twins; and was “Mrs. Mooney’s Marauder’s Map”. This magical document showed every classroom, hallway and secret corner in all of Hogwarts. It also showed you the location- by name- of every person in Hogwarts. If you had such a magical map of your town, what would you use it for? If you would not use it, is there another person to whom you would gift it?

Pre-corona this would have been a lifesaver. Running late to a meeting? Check who’s there to cover for me. Arrive early for a meeting? Check who’s in the building because one on one small talk is hugely awkward. Sitting in the parking lot for fifteen minutes and the person I’m meeting still hasn’t arrived? The map would tell me if I need to make a did-I-get-the-time-wrong, are-you-running-late, or am-I-even-supposed-to-be-at-this-meeting call.

As for now? That map sure would help ease this mom’s mind while our kiddo is out and about driving on his own. Just sayin.

When was the last time you made a snowball? Were in a snowball fight?

I’m not a fan of getting hit with cold slushy wet snowballs – yeah, I know, curmudgeonly – so I’m sure the last time I made a snowball was when I was handing it off to one of the kids to use in a neighborhood battle. That would have been about eight years or so.

Many cultures set great value in each child of the family having godparents. Did you have godparents? Are you a godparent yourself?

I did have godparents and yes, I’m a godparent myself.

You have found a secret tunnel under your house. Where does it go?

My secret tunnel branches off in three directions. One leads to a quiet beach with soft white sand and gentle waves. The second leads to a mountain house with a porch overlooking a babbling creek. The third leads to a snack room that’s always stocked with cheesy nachos, brownies, ice cream, chips and dip, and a huge candy display. That should cover all the bases.

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And now our traditional questions:

Is intelligence or wisdom more useful? 

I believe wisdom and its inherent quality of knowing what’s true and right is more helpful when it comes to moving through life.

How important is play in living a healthy and fulfilling life?

So very important! We do a huge disservice to young people when we teach them – explicitly or implicitly – that their worth is dependent on achievement.

Is happiness just chemicals flowing through your brain or something more?

Both. Some of it is simply chemical. Like chocolate. Letting a piece of chocolate melt in my mouth is delicious, yes, but I’m also fairly certain it makes me feel happy because it releases that happy brain juice. Good times. But then there’s more complex things like relationships that bring happiness – I think those involve an undefinable element in the happy department.

Feel free to share some photos, an image, a meme, a story or incident or a poem that helps you feel grateful.  

I’ve taken to saving great animal shots on twitter. They’re perfect for when it’s been a rough day…or when you’ve sat through an hour of idiotic RNC blather and really need to smile.

Roger and Melanie are co-hosting Share Your World for the next few weeks. Click over and check out their blogs.