Top ten: green things

What are ten living plants you see every day?

Grownup school

If you won an educational grant to study whatever you wanted for an entire year, what would you choose to learn about?

A long time ago

Does your family have stories about you that you've heard for so many years that they seem like a memory, but you don't actually recall the events firsthand?

This week's theme is memories.

That's entertainment!

What is one extended line from a movie (or entire scene) that you could repeat from memory?

What is the longest or most impressive thing that you ever memorized?

What is one song that you can sing, start to finish, from memory?

This week's theme is memories.

Where were you on the night of...?

Can you easily remember your own activities of the last several days?

What were you doing last Tuesday evening, just after sunset?

What did you eat for lunch three days ago?

This week's theme is memories.

Slices of your life

If someone asked you to briefly tell ten stories of things that happened to you in your life, could you do it at a moment’s notice, or would you have to sit down, and think about it for a while, and write things down?

This week's theme is memories.

Memories

How clear are your memories? Some people remember many instances from different periods in their life, while others only have a few stories from their past that they can remember in great detail. Are your memories vivid, or do you only still have the barest outlines of events that have occurred to you?

What is your earliest memory?

This week's theme is memories.

Top ten: advice

What are the ten most valuable bits of advice you could give to a young person who seems ready to follow in your footsteps?

The wild side

What happens when you let your wildness come out? Is it fun? Is it scary? Is it dangerous? How do other people react?

Resume review

Of all the jobs you've had, which did you enjoy the most? What about that job made it enjoyable? What was the worst job that you ever had? Which of your jobs taught you important things about how the world works?

This week's theme is your job.

Working 9 to 5

What is one thing you would change about your job if you could? What could you do to make your workplace feel more inspiring?

This week's theme is your job.

I can't believe they pay me to do this!

Does your job give you an opportunity to be creative? When you started your job, what was the most appealing aspect of it? What has changed about the job since then?

This week's theme is your job.

You and your cow-orkers

Who are the people you work with every day? Do you feel like you fit in at work, or do you feel different from everyone else?

This week's theme is your job.

An honest day's living

Work. Everybody has to do it, except maybe Paris Hilton. It takes up a disproportionate part of our waking life, yet most of us don't want to talk about it, or even think about it, once we've left the workplace. This week, we're going to ask you to break that social contract and think about work, and how it fits into your life.

Does your job give you a feeling of satisfaction? Do you feel like you're making a difference by doing your job? What is your job's (or your company's) primary contribution to the world?

This week's theme is your job.

Top Ten: nostalgia foods

What are ten foods that immediately evoke your childhood for you?

Blame it on the rain

What is a good way to spend a rainy Saturday?

Silly love songs

What stories, movies, novels, and songs had a lasting effect on your beliefs about love relationships?

This week's theme is love.

Unconditional lover

What strengths do you bring to your love relationships?

What relationship skills would you most like to improve?


This week's theme is love.

Laundry list of love

Think about the main love relationships in your life so far. What have they been like, overall?

Are your love relationships happy most of the time? Or are they often weighed down by fears, tensions, and conflicts?

This week's theme is love.

And they called it "puppy love"

What sweet memories do you have of early love relationships?

What are some painful experiences in your love life that you prefer not to remember?

What awkward or embarrassing moments stand out in your memory of early loves?

This week's theme is love.

Love

Love is a loaded topic, but it's something we all need. Whether you're gay or straight, single or partnered, young or old, everyone needs love in order to thrive. But as natural as it is to look for love, most of us don't want to look at love too closely. This week, that's just what we're going to do.

How many times have you been in love?

Who was the first to break your heart?

Whose heart have you broken?

This week's theme is love.

Top Ten: Serendipity

What are ten great things you've done that happened without being planned? These memorable events just sort of fell into place, as though Fate were on your payroll.

"Snakes! Why'd it have to be snakes?"

What kind of adventure would be perfect for you right now?

Just for fun: Choose Your Own Adventure interactive online stories

Thinking outside the box

We're still dealing with that same, pesky problem! Sometimes your way of thinking is in a rut, and you need to expand your list of options. Try thinking about the problem in completely uncharacteristic ways:

What's the solution so obvious that you completely overlooked it?

What's the crazy solution that no one has ever dared to try?

What's the radical, innovative solution that no one has ever thought of before?

What's the solution that's so easy it can't possibly work?

What's the solution that's so difficult that you can't possibly do it?

Is your life full of difficult decisions like these?

What's the underlying issue that you have been avoiding?

This week's theme is problem solving.

Looking inward

Continuing on from yesterday, you might already know deep inside what the answer to your problem is. In The Wizard of Oz, the characters made a long journey to find out that what they were seeking, they already had within them. Maybe you do, too!

What does your heart say?

What is your gut feeling?

What if you just flipped a coin?

If you completely trusted yourself, what would you choose?

This week's theme is problem solving.

Our panel of experts says...

Think of a specific problem in your life, or a decision you have to make. Some people might suggest that you seek advice from trusted sources. What sources of wisdom and advice are available to you?

If you prefer to keep the matter to yourself, you can still have the benefit of others' advice. In many cases, you can probably reliably guess what some people would advise you. Thinking of your current dilemma:

What would your mother say?

What would your father say?

What do experts advise?

What's the common-sense approach?

Is this truly your own decision to make, or do you have to reach a consensus with someone else?

This week's theme is problem solving.

None of the above

Yesterday, we asked you to consider a specific, straightforward problem or decision that you're facing. When we asked you to come up with some alternative solutions, was "taking no action" on your list? Are you someone who tends to choose "no action" as a way of not making a choice?

This week's theme is problem solving.

Problem solving

Making decisions and solving problems: these are two areas where it definitely pays to think clearly and effectively, to make the best use of our knowledge, to consider our values, to exercise our imagination. Has your usual approach to decision making and problem solving been working as well as it should? If not, you might want to ask yourself some different questions.

If you’re faced with a fairly straightforward problem or decision, and you’re having trouble sorting through your options and coming up with a course of action, try asking yourself some of this week's questions, which let you look at the problem from many different angles.

What are the obvious alternatives available to you?

If you were forced to make a snap decision in the next five seconds, which of those would you pick?

With each alternative, what's the worst thing that could happen?

This week's theme is problem solving.

Top Ten: Be kind, rewind

What are ten movies you've seen more than once?

My ficus, myself

What plants do you see every day as part of your routine? What indoor plants decorate your home and workspace?

Do you take care of houseplants? Do you look at houseplants as a burden, or do you enjoy cultivating them? Are you able to keep a houseplant alive?

This week's theme is your relationship with nature.

What's on your plate?

What are some animals that you eat?

Is it okay for people to raise animals and kill them for food? Is it okay for people to kill wild animals for food?

Is it okay for people to kill wild animals for sport? Is it okay for people to kill domesticated animals for sport?

Do you sometimes eat less meat as a way of reducing your contribution to the suffering of animals? Do you sometimes eat less meat for the sake of your own health?

This week's theme is your relationship with nature.