Answers to The Proust Questionnaire
(Click on the link here to access Vanity Fair's Interactive Questionnaire)
1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
...an ocean breeze, my husband, a juicy mystery novel, bottle of kombucha, a bit of smelly cheese, some ripe cherries and freshly baked french bread...
2. What is your greatest fear?
...that I won’t have time to do everything I want to do, experience everything I dream of doing...
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
impatience
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
the big pretend
5. Which living person do you most admire?
Wangari Maathai
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
buying beads for making jewelry; and books, books, books
7. What is your current state of mind?
I am unbearably optimistic.
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
...there are so many; the underrated one is humble-ness
9. On what occasion do you lie?
When I get caught up in the drama of some story I’m embellishing...
10. What is the quality you most like in a man?
a passionate nature
11. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
humor
12. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
cool, amazing, neat, how does that make you feel in your body?
13. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
...my strong, loving, funny, amazing husband...
14. When and where were you happiest?
When my husband & I first fell in love in Boston; when I gave birth to my two young people; and being part of my children’s lives into their adulthood...
15. Which talent would you most like to have?
...a first rate operatic lyric soprano voice, instead of a second-rate one...
16. What is your most treasured possession?
...my grandfather Max’s gold watch fob, which I had made into a necklace.
17. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
...watching someone I love be in pain of any kind.
18. What is your favorite occupation?
...just being...
19. What is your most marked characteristic?
the sound of my laugh
20. What do you most value in your friends?
their clarity
21. Who is your favorite heroine & hero of fiction?
Vasilisa the Brave & Fair; and “the boy” in The Alchemist
22. Who are your heroes in real life?
...teachers, therapy clients who answer the call to the inner journey, anyone who volunteers their time to give to others...
23. What is it that you most dislike?
false promises
24. What is your greatest regret?
...not learning sooner how to set better boundaries with people who demand my energies & talents & haven’t earned my respect...
25. How would you like to die?
...having finished a picnic at the ocean with my husband, peacefully lulled by the ocean’s song, listening to our daughter’s voice on the phone, staring at a picture of our son, his lovely wife and all those grandchildren...
26. What is your motto?
Never give up; you never know what delights await!
Copyright © 2010 Dr. Heiko All Rights Reserved
