What If?

This is my favorite way to begin a question.

Actually it’s tied with why. But why is more of a serious let’s get into it kind of question requiring contemplative thinking rather than sky high imagining.

I love many things about this question.

Most of all I love the lack of any kind of follow-up to do list.

There’s absolutely no supplemental action plan required.

Also, in a world filled with purposeful interactions, streamlined communication and informational downloads, I love the meandering, conversationally adventurous nature of this question.

Who knows where it will go or how long it will take or where you will land.

There is an element of surprise, mystery and wonder.

I don’t know about you, but I could use a lot more of this in my life.

In my I Want to Be a Unicorn post, I asked my family… What if you could be an animal hybrid? What would you be? Since this post I have received fantabulorious (as my son Finn says) answers.

My creative partner at milk* would be a puma-sloth, his partner would be a gecko-owl. I have heard from an elephant-dog, a zebra-turtle and a sea-turtle-parrot.

It got me thinking.

What if there was a new dating site, which focused on your animal hybrid?

I have several friends who are on Tinder and like many qualities but are frustrated by others. Age for example. Everyone screens according to am age bracket but what does it mean for a man to be under 48 or a woman to be over 36?

And the pictures are not always quite representative of reality.

BUT, who wouldn’t at least want to e-mail with a puma-sloth? Now, in my personal case, I’m very lucky to be married because not everyone is dying to meet a rhinocerous-unicorn. Doesn’t gecko-owl say WAY more than 50 year old man?

What if questions leave bread crumbs.

They are like following a yellow-brick road into a magical kingdom where anything goes and everything is possible.

Today, on the Absolutely Mindy Show on XM Kids Place Live, Mindy asked, “What if you could send one of your name’s letters on vacation? Which is the hardest working letter? Where would it go? What would it eat there? And what ”

This sparked a WAY more interesting conversation than my pre-programmed boring reminders about checking the lost and found again for the lost gloves, coats, hats, brains, etc.

Our son Finn would send his F to NYC to eat Chinese food and read stories to kids leaving him our little Inn. Our son Leo would send his L to Florida to wrestle alligators leaving him Eo. And I’d send my K to Paris to purchase fabulous scarves and ginormous dark sunglasses.

Who cares about gloves now?

There’s the tried and true what if you were deserted on a desert island what five songs, albums, foods, friends etc. would you bring?

What if tonight at dinner you asked one what if question to whoever is there?