Your endorsements

What logos and emblems can be seen on the clothing you are wearing today?

If I ever get a job at a zoo, I'll need this

There are many things we hesitate to part with because it seems like they might be useful to someone, someday, somehow. What is one admittedly far-fetched future scenario that you've used to justify holding on to something that you haven't used in years?

This week's theme is clutter.

92 throw pillows

A friend realized he had enough mugs to serve hot cocoa to fifty people, but that not that many people could fit in his house. What is one thing that you are similarly oversupplied with, that you have in far greater quantity than you could conceivably use?

This week's theme is clutter.

Aunt Millie's tapestry

What's the thing in your home that you would love to get rid of, but that you have to keep because of who gave it to you?

This week's theme is clutter.

It's the wrong color

What is something that you bought and never used, but you won't get rid of, because then you'd have to admit you wasted your money?

This week's theme is clutter.

Clutter

Things cost less than ever, and time seems scarcer than ever. For many of us, the result is homes crowded with stuff that we don't really want but don't have time to sort out.

Which part of your home is the most likely to be cluttered with random stuff?

This week's theme is clutter.

Tell us a story: all grown up

What was one event that helped you realize that you had grown up and gained adult responsibilities?

"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"

What's one thing you could do that would help you to feel better about yourself?

Fearless

If you could pick one fear to banish forever (or drastically diminish), what fear would you choose to get rid of?

This week's theme is fears and worries.

Phobias

Phobias are strong, irrational fears, but the most common phobias do have some sense behind them. High places, enclosed spaces, spiders, snakes, monsters (large predators), and being lost and alone were all potentially deadly perils that our ancestors faced. What's one common phobia that you sometimes experience?

This week's theme is fears and worries.

You'll catch your death

What was one of your mother's favorite, frequently expressed worries?

This week's theme is fears and worries.

Lightning and sharks

What is one danger you worry about regularly, even though you'll admit it's rather unlikely to affect you?

This week's theme is fears and worries.

Fears and worries

What's your most common strategy: do you tend to ignore and hide your fears and worries, or do you tend to talk to other people about them?

This week's theme is fears and worries.

Tell us a story: role model

Who is one of your heroes? Tell us a story about something he or she did or said that particularly inspired your admiration. Which of your hero's positive qualities would you most like to emulate?

Overdue

Think about your not-so-proud moments — arguments, misunderstandings, hurtful actions, and false accusations. Who, more than anyone, deserves an apology from you?

Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T...

Did you ever play a musical recording backwards, just to hear the strange-yet-familiar sounds of the reversed music? Have you started at the end a museum exhibit and walked through it in reverse order? Did you ever try playing the holes of a golf course in reverse?

What is something that you deliberately tried doing backwards, just to see what would happen if you reversed the customary order of things?

This week's theme is moving backwards.

I know I had it when I left home!

When were you forced to painstakingly retrace your steps, because you had lost something important along the way? What did you lose? Were you able to find it again?

This week's theme is moving backwards.

Snow sculpture and mud baths

What is something that you enjoyed in your younger years, then abandoned along the way, and eventually rediscovered (perhaps in a "more mature" form) many years later?

This week's theme is moving backwards.

Boomerang

"As you sow, so shall you reap," says one adage, and the law of karma reminds us that we must face the consequences of our actions, whether immediately or years later.

Did you ever get soaked with your own water balloon? Did your small courtesy turn out to bring a big reward? What is one example of a time when your actions were aimed at someone or something outside yourself, but ended up impacting yourself more than anyone else?

This week's theme is moving backwards.

Moving backwards

A few times a year, the planet Mercury appears to reverse its course for a few weeks and move backwards across the night sky. The backwards motion is an illusion; Mercury in fact continues steadily forward in its orbit around the sun.

In the same way, our life stories move steadily ahead, but sometimes it feels as though we're moving backwards.

What was one time when you turned around and went back to where you started? Did you move from place A to place B, only to move back to A shortly afterwards? Did you leave company C for a job at company D, only to have C buy D a year later? Did you make a big change in the way you do things, only to find that the first way was better after all?

This week's theme is moving backwards.

Tell us a story: under a beautiful sky

What is your single happiest memory of being outdoors?

Extra goodness

What's something good that you recently got more of than you expected? Did you pay for a grande at Starbucks and get a venti? Did your bonus come in for more than your boss told you it would? Did you get a birthday card from someone you haven't heard from in years?

Plot twist

Do you enjoy a movie more if the story contains a lot of surprises?

What about your own life? Is it better when it holds more surprises for you?

This week's theme is surprises.

And now for something completely different

Is your style, schedule, and behavior too repetitive and predictable? If so, what are some things you could do to shake things up, things that no one would expect from someone like you?

This week's theme is surprises.

Breaking the mold

Who surprised you recently by doing something or revealing something that didn't fit with what you expected from them? What did they do that seemed so out of character?

This week's theme is surprises.

Caught you off guard

Surprise is often a tactic used by someone who wants to win by defeating someone else—for example, in battle, in sports, and in sales. What are some people or situations in your own life that prompt you to be wary against possible surprises?

This week's theme is surprises.

Out of the blue

Last month's earthquake and tsunami in Japan is a reminder that major life-changing events sometimes come with no warning at all. These unexpected changes can be good or bad, but we tend to remember the bad ones more vividly.

What was one surprising event from the last few years that directly affected your life?

This week's theme is surprises.

Tell us a story: seasonal

What's something you do in the spring that you cannot do in the winter? Do you have different chores, a modified exercise plan, friends you only see in the warmer weather?

From the studio that brought you "Your Life"...

What would be the title of the movie about your life? Who is the ideal actor to play the role of "you"?

It's a joke

In the United States, today is April Fool's Day, and the tradition is to see if you can momentarily trick someone into believing a made-up piece of news. The more outlandish the fake news, the better the joke if someone believes it.

Did you ever mistakenly take seriously a website or news story that was meant purely as a joke or parody?

This week's theme is mistakes.