The Proust Questionnaire Answered by Karen Madej

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona 2019. Image Author’s Own

I loathe talking about my deepest darkest thoughts and I react with hostility when pushed too far. My sister told me I never tell her anything about myself. Nobody will ever know everything about me. Does anyone really know all there is to know about someone?

Thoughts that find their way out of the recesses of my mind will in the future— and have been in the past— recorded in various notebooks. These notebook thoughts will never see the light of day while I am alive.

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
   The sun rising, the air warming me sitting on a balcony in Porto, Portugal. A mug of my favourite ground coffee, my laptop, and writing about what I learned through my life.
2. What is your greatest fear?
   This is very difficult to answer. Failing. To achieve change in the world with my words. To find my niche. To find the love of my life, the one I want to grow old with.
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
   Overreacting to things I get wrong by beating myself up. Sometimes verbally, sometimes physically. I guess a born perfectionist can never really escape the desire to be perfect.
4. Which living person do you most admire?
   Elon Musk. His attitude towards saving the planet with sustainability projects makes him top of my list.