Re: What's your favorite _________?

So, this blog thing just doesn't have a good way to carry on a conversation. I guess the best way is for me to make a whole post because I got such wonderful feedback!

In general, I think we agree that there is a lot of value in not picking favorites for some things, but there are others about which we think we should remain ignorant. Ute (scratchingcat), for example, pointed out that we should hopefully have a favorite significant other. I wholeheartedly agree with that--but I'd also argue that, as I pointed out, this is out of a conscious choice not to try out others anymore and see if there are more suitable ones out there. In this case, the ignorance is honorable.

Similarly, when it comes to investments, or things about which you must only pick one if you are sane, you must intentionally remain ignorant. Will brought up the notion of purchasing a guitar for himself. Having bought myself clarinets, I know the feeling--you have to try out lots and lots of instruments and only pick ONE. In my experience, something that makes this process much easier is, much like with choosing life partners, choosing to remain ignorant after a certain point. Sure, you try out all the possible ones you see, and you find out what you like and don't like, but eventually you must come to a decision, and once you have, you stop trying out others to see if it was the right decision until you are back on the market.

I was also not arguing against having preferences. It is a sign of good taste to have preferences--it means you are paying attention to differences in things and assessing them, which implies you are milking the experience at hand of all its worth. Preferences also help make decisions so that we don't spend our whole lives wandering aimlessly, avoiding any direction at all.

Some of you also brought up the idea of "temporary favorites" or "flexible favorites." I suppose this is simply a difference in definition; I was using the term "favorite" to imply a conscious choice that is much more permanent. The fact that you get excited about one thing for an amount of time, however brief, does not mean that you have chosen a favorite in my opinion, but rather are savoring something preferable. In such a situation, in my experience at least, I readily admit to myself that I will not unendingly find such fascination in whatever this may be. This willingness to admit that it will not always be your favorite is exactly the kind of healthy habit I was encouraging.

Finally, there's what I like to call the "soul mate" favorite. This is where you happen across something that becomes a favorite, leave it--possibly even several times--but somehow always end up coming back to it and rediscovering why you loved it so much. I'd say this is a healthy kind of favorite to have, because you have clearly not stopped searching and somehow remain drawn to it. What's important to remember about this, at least in my eyes, is that you do not judge other choices in comparison to it. Comparing other things to your soul mate favorite is still a type of chosen ignorance.

All that being said, I did want to make it a point to say that I loved all of your responses and I think it's lovely that we can have this discussion! It seems so nice to be able to calmly discuss things without having to take the hours I normally spend on videos. This is also going up unedited... so I hope it made sense :D

DFTBA!

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