Summed up by this quote:
“The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.
First Lord of the Rings reading experience:
I was in seventh grade so that would have been around 1977 or so. I had already read The Hobbit and fell in love with the Lord of the Rings. I read it and to be honest I did not remember everything about my first experience (it being so long ago) except how enthralled I was by it. As a result I created my own world and my own story (originally similar to Tolkien, but now probably more Celtic and Norse in nature). I have read the series at least once a year, sometimes more as I read other things as well.
Favorite Tolkien character:
Bilbo: because I think in so many ways I am like him. I am content with my life, the way things goes and the people in my life. Life comes calling and as I go There and Back Again, I am always finding things out about myself that I didn't know, learning and growing. Plus Bilbo has figured out that good food and good drink and good friends and family make for a richer life, not gold and money.
