Saywell James - If: questions for the game of life

Table of Contents

If is the ultimate book about, fantasy. Each of its questions is meant to spark and tantalize the imagination. They are a celebration of the human spirit, which loves to dream and needs to hope, but which can also fear and even grow angry. Our ability to imagine is the remarkable gift we have been given to lead us into joy and aspiration and out of despair or sadness, because common to all of us is the idea that there could be a different world, perhaps a better one.

How many times a day do we say, "If only..."? If we could create the perfect life, the perfect city, the perfect home, the perfect job, the perfect mate. We all fantasize, and we all dream. We dream of perfection, money, revenge, glory, change. We fantasize about both good and evil, about winning and losing, about our past and future. fantasies are what inspire us all; to work, many, raise families, create, improve our world. It is why we lose ourselves in books, go to movies, watch television, go to the ballgame and on vacation. We dreamed as children and we dream now because without our fantasies we would be lost. We imagine in order to learn, to understand, to strive, to attempt, to predict, to avoid, to correct, to describe, to solve.

This book is also a game. It was born of many dinner parties and gatherings, when just to throw out a provocative question and ask for each persons answer always led to the most surprising and fascinating discussions. Every time, a kind of synergetic and addictive momentum took over as answers led to other related questions, reasons were demanded, disagreements were unleashed, conditions were imposed, others answers were predicted, and inevitably those involved were startled by the responses, at times even their own. No matter who is present it seems to be irresistible, whether we are at a flagging party, on a long car or plane ride, among a group of students, within a family, or alone with someone very close to us. It is infectious and fascinating to watch and take part in.

Of course implicit in every question is "why?" In some sense it is like taking the pulse of a moment in time, or a group of friends, to see what we believe in; to see what world we envision. Whether they are read randomly or in sequence, the responses these questions elicit can lead to extraordinary offshoots; other related questions will occur, and variations on these, and attached caveats and conditions "customize" the original list depending on who is there to play. Because everybody, old or young, fat or thin, intelligent or not, from one culture or another, has the ability and inclination to wonder.

And so, aside from the truths that are revealed, the contemplation that is provoked, the confidence or anxiety that surfaces, the self-knowledge that results, or the understanding that might be gained, above all we hope that asking these questions inspires optimism, since no matter who or what we really are, we share the ability to travel together the unpredictable journey of the imagination, which leads us through the wonderful game of life.

If you were to be granted one wish, what would it be?

If you could spend one whole night alone with anyone in the world who is currently alive, who would you select?

If you could spend one whole night alone with anyone in history, who would you choose?

If you could physically transport yourself to any place in the world at this moment, where would you go?

If you could have lived through any war in history (without actually fighting in it), which would it be?

If you could eliminate any one type of insect permanently from the earth, what would you get rid of?

If you had to eliminate a single type of animal forevermore, which would you choose?

If you could have an elegant dinner alone with anyone presently alive, whether you know them or not, who would you want it to be?

If you could alter one physical characteristic of your mate, what would you change?

If you could dine alone with anyone from any period in history, which person would it be?

If you could, in retrospect, change one thing about your childhood, what would it be?

If you could have any room in the world become your bedroom from now on, which room would you choose?

If you could change one thing in the world right now, what would you alter?

If you had to assassinate one famous person who is alive right now, who would it be, and how would you do it?

If you could permanently alter one thing about your physical appearance, what would you change?

If you could have stopped aging at any point in your life up to the present, how old would you want to remain?

If you could inherit a comfortable home in any city in the world that you could use but not sell, where would you want it to be?

If you could inherit a vacation home anywhere in the world in which you could spend one month a year, but that you could never sell, where would it be?

If you could suddenly possess an extraordinary talent in one of the arts, what would you like it to be?

If you could be instantly fluent in one other language that you currently do not read or speak, which would it be?

If you could have permanent possession of any single object in the world, what would you want it to be?

If you could have had the starring role in one film already made, which movie would you pick?

If you could return for one year to one age in your life, knowing what you know now, to relive that year as you wish, which year would you go back to?

If you had to identically repeat any single year of your life to date, without changing a thing, which year would you relive?

If you could be sculpted by any artist, in history, who would you choose?

If you were to have your entire wardrobe destined for you by a single clothing designer for the rest of your life, who would you select?

If you were to be stranded forever on a desert island and could have only one book to read, which would you want?

If you could say one sentence to the current pope, what would it be?

If you could have one person from history live his or her full life over again, starting now, who would you pick?

If you could have personally witnessed one event in history, what would you want to have seen?

If one of your parents was to be a famous person from any time in history, who would you want them to be?

If you could receive one small package this very moment, who would it be from and what would be in it?

If you could own one painting from any collection in the world but were not allowed to sell it, which work of art would you select?

If you could have chosen your own first name, other than your current one, what would it be?