Scrappy, quixotic, curious.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
What is the thing you are best at that nobody watching can see?
Craft & work
Question
What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?
Daily life
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this exact standing prompt.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Fear, anxiety, longing, love, art, beauty.
Charlotte Philby, My secret life, The Independent, 1 May 2009 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 121 →Passionate, mum, green.
Faith-filled, never-give-up man.
Happy, loyal and late.
More from Alain de Botton
View profile →The summer just after finishing How Proust Can Change Your Life.
Pulping books.
At 12, I wanted to be an architect, at 18, a writer, and now, at forty, an architect again. I’m powerfully drawn to everything related to building, but I also love ideas. These are my two passions.
interior design. I would love to design your house for you. At night, I sketch designs for King's Cross, new versions of the British Library, and new versions of my kitchen.
A few years ago, I started wearing this as a uniform of sorts. It has removed all my anxieties about clothing. I now know what I'll be wearing in both summer and winter.
Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the most romantic move any of us could make.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Margaret Atwood, Adam Zagajewski, Neil Gaiman, Frank Bowling, Pauline Black, Derek Sivers
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