“Your lyrics are rubbish.” It was someone I was working with when I was in my early 20s. It turned out well because I then spent a long time studying and learning how to write good lyrics.
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
That I wouldn’t be successful. Joke’s on them, I guess.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 June 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
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Edward Enninful
Ghanaian-born English editor and stylist
Any time I’ve been racially profiled. The words might be different, but the feeling is the same.
“Do you know what your problem is?” It was a dear friend of mine. They were referring to the fact that I’m impatient.
“You don’t stand a chance of succeeding as a writer in this country. The demographics are against you.” They were wrong. The only demographic that counts is the human heart.
More from Maya Jama
View profile →Euphoria, passion and feeling like nothing else in the world matters.
Probably missing out on roles I really, really wanted, but I’m a big believer that if it’s for you, you’ll have it. So those clearly weren’t for me.
I can be properly stubborn sometimes – but that’s me being a classic Leo.
My phone and social media.
When people are disingenuous.
You’ve got to keep trying because you don’t know what amazing things are round the corner. Also, always be grateful – at one point you wished to be where you are today.
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- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 211 answers
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- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 82 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 41 answers
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