1. What is a quote that speaks to you, and why do you like it?
"Let your smile change the world, don't let the world change your smile."
Because our attitude, the energy we project, affects the people around us. I have seen this first hand. I once stepped on a bus with a very grumpy looking driver, and with all the genuine optimism I could muster I wished him a good morning. Not just the generic automated "morning" we say because it's expected of us, I tried to put my heart and soul into it. And it worked, he started to smile! And for the entire bus ride I got to see his smile spread to every other person that got on the bus. It was genuinely beautiful.
It also works with negativity. I know people who just have a bad time wherever they go, no one likes them, everything is against them... And they are not bad people! They just drag this cloud of negativity with them, they already assume wherever they go and whatever they do, the universe is against them. They perceive everything as an insult to them, and they lash out because anger is like a painkiller for emotions. In reality, it's just their own negativity they are simultaneously fighting and feeding.
2. What advice do you wish you'd received earlier?
Sometimes parents are just assholes who had sex. Learn to survive on your own and run the fuck away.
3. What was the hardest time of your life, and how did you make it through?
12-19 years old. Drunk mom, no dad, no help at school, sometimes bullied at school. I had some unhealthy coping mechanisms. Smoked weed for a while. Not the worst but I was at the 'almost failing school because my concentration dropped to absolute 0' level, so that wasn't good. Embracing anger was another one, emotional painkiller. And video games for some escapism. I spent years hidden inside a cocoon of anger and drugs.
4. What is the best compliment you've ever received?
When people are moved by my writing it's always good, that's what i aim for. The greatest compliment was actually silence. There is this person I know, fellow volunteer, nice lady, but she can't for the life of her shut the fuck up. It's like her mind can't store thoughts, it needs to be spoken aloud or it's gone. Doesn't matter if someone else is talking, or if we're in a meeting, or rehearsing for a play... she can't keep quiet and always has little side conversations going on.
Except... when I do a reading of my poetry or biography. She will sit there completely silent and attentive for as long as I speak. And because i know how fucking hard that is for her, it is the greatest compliment she could ever give me.
5. What character trait instantly makes you respect someone?
Curiosity. The willingness to examine things, to try things, to analyze a thought process, to question what they think they know.
6. What is the best compliment you've ever given someone?
Fuuuck... I dunno... 'Nice hair, did you grow it yourself?'
7. What is a fear you've faced and how did you face it?
I used to be afraid of public speaking... And i faced it by giving a graduation speech, and then be in a theater performance.
8. What is an "everyday evil" you experience often? Something banal but deeply unfair.
Advertising. If i send all my local stores a weekly letter asking them to give me their money I'd probably go to jail, yet they can flood my mailbox with flyers, sales, discount coupons, they can paint their logo on walls, roads, they can interrupt tv shows and youtube videos...
JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! Even stalkers have more respect for personal space.
9. What person you know do you look up to most and why?
Keanu Reeves, nice guy, loves his job, gives 110%, is in some good movies.
10. Has anyone ever saved your life? Have you ever saved someone else’s?
Never been in a situation where either was necessary.