I want to start asking two questions to gauge my feelings on something: am I working on something useful and rewarding, and am I doing it with people who I love and who love me back?

I didn’t use to care about this. Perhaps it’s because not a lot of things made by teens are useful in the real world, and I wasn’t good at giving love to people in a conventional, North American fashion.

I’ve made large strides in both areas, but it feels inopportune to focus on them now. We are constantly surrounded by great social and economic reminders that try to strip us from pre-existing values, which is sometimes useful but often confusing. Yet I stand by both of the questions, because it is the only thing that feels natural to me.

And the answer is often no, and that’s okay. Not every endeavour will involve people who love me[1], and not every endeavour will be useful or rewarding. But questionnaires are the first step in implementing a strategy.

[1] I recently started going to my university’s indoor bouldering club, and one person there strongly hates me lol