The question
As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I wanted to perform in some way, but I didn’t think it was viable. Teachers told me I should be a barrister, because I was always arguing with them.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 April 2021 source ↗
A fishmonger, then a surgeon.
I had dreams of becoming the first scouse pope. Unfortunately, the girls got to me first.
A great composer. I wrote to Benjamin Britten to tell him this and that he was my third favourite composer. For some reason he didn’t feel moved to reply.
A vet, but then I discovered you needed qualifications.
The thought that I could be doing more: being more productive, doing more of the things that matter, and less of the things that don’t.
If I am remembered at all that would be nice. I won’t be picky.
Less admin, emails, phone calls; more space to think, read and sleep.
Preparing for Sound Of Metal. Feeling challenged and overwhelmed and lost in something is very fulfilling.
I would care less about what people think.
Openness, curiosity and compassion.
Shirley Ballas, Robert Bathurst, Joanne Froggatt, Anna Friel, Pauline McLynn, Olivia Williams
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