Proust Questionnaire

Mari Andrew sent out her answers to the Proust Questionnaire and I thought they were very interesting. I sent the list of questions to my best friend and am looking forward to reading her answers, too. It might be fun to read my answers, so I present them here now. :)

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness? A yellow day.

2. What is your greatest fear? Losing my yellow days forever.

3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I try not to deplore any part of myself, but my struggles with executive function can be pretty frustrating at times.

4. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Condescension.

5. Which living person do you most admire? My mother.

6. What is your greatest extravagance? Travel. I want to do it often and well.

7. What is your current state of mind? I’m excited about my future.

8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Am I a very bad person if I say loyalty?

9. On which occasion do you lie? When I tell someone I understand the verbal directions they just gave me.

10. What do you dislike the most about your appearance? My posture

11. Which living person do you most despise? I don’t think I truly despise anyone. Ted Cruz might come close.

12. What is the quality you most like in a man? His presence.

13. What is the quality you most like in a woman? Girlhood.

14. Which words or phrases do you overuse? “Oh my god!” and “Thank god!” I don’t even really believe in god.

15. What or who is the greatest love of your life? Me. I am. It took me 29 years to realize it, but I know that to be true now.

16. When and where were you the happiest? October 2022: Attending Mari’s workshop, sharing my writing for the first time, practicing for my aerial showcase, and nailing my aerial showcase.

17. Which talent would you most like to have? An incredible singing voice.

18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My singing voice. Or my connective tissue.

19. What do you consider your greatest achievement? Surviving the first three decades of my life so far. And my aerial showcase routine.

20. If you died and came back a person or thing, what would it be? Maybe a tree in some lovely English garden.

21. Where would you most like to live? In a beautiful cottage near the ocean.

22. What is your most treasured possession? My medications.

23. What do you regard as the lowest depths of misery? Being ghosted.

24. What is your favorite occupation? Stay-at-home human

25. What is your most marked characteristic? My unstable joints.

26. What do you value in friends? Support, understanding without judgment, and emotional safety.

27. Who are your favorite writers? Chanel Miller, Mary Oliver, Mari Andrew, and anyone whose writing holds my attention and touches my heart.

28. Who is your hero of fiction? Harry Potter. I know, I know, okay? But hear me out! He spent the first ten years of his life being terribly neglected. He entered a world of endless possibilities and opportunities and what did he want most of all? His family. His heart was pure, his earnestness was his driving force, and he overcame his challenges in the end. I related to him so much when I was a child and a teen, and now when I revisit the books, my heart aches for young Harry.

29. Which historical figure do you most identify with? A sickly Victorian child who has to move to the seaside for their health.

30. Who are your heroes in real life? Alchemists who transform their trauma and pain into growth and healing (GOLD!!).

31. What are your favorite names? Belinda and Caleb

32. What is it you most dislike? Polo shirts.

33. What is your greatest regret? Not standing up for myself harder when I was being sexually harassed at work.

34. How would you like to die? Old, myself, happy, asleep.

35. What is your motto? I’m making my 8-year-old self happy and my 88-year-old self proud.