Estelle Leonard - Lilly Friend Project

Preliminary Questions

Do you live within a thirty-minute radius/are you comfortable commuting to Murray Hill or elsewhere in Manhattan to hang out with me?

[REDACTED]

Are you crazy?

Yes No

Can you supply a personal website or social media profile?

[REDACTED]

Once I review your application, I will reach out to have a more formal, sit-down interview to be my friend in Manhattan. This interview will be videotaped and I will be posting the footage on social media. Are you able to report to Manhattan and spend at least an hour for the interview?

Yes No

Open Questions

Why are you filling out this questionnaire?

my friend showed it to me

How many "close friends" (by close friends I mean people that you see more than twice a month if they live in the tri-state area or if they are a long-distance friend that you speak with at least twice a month) do you have?

Do you listen to Billie Eilish? If so, why?

yes. i like alt artists

It's Saturday morning! What time are you up and what do you want to do with the day?

i wake up by 9am. i try to make plans with friends or work on some personal projects. like trying to learn new hobbies.

Have you ever had an existential crisis? How did it come about and what was your ultimate takeaway from it?

yeah. i feel like life is always crazy and shit be happening and i love the surprise of it all even if it sucks in the moment. i usually have a pretty postive outlook on life and positive take-aways from situations.

You are at a party and a topic comes up that you could go on and on and on about that nobody else knows anything about. What is the topic and would you talk about it or not talk about it?

it would probably be something about spirituality or social justice. and id go on and on about it if i felt comfortable cause i got some social anxiety but i wouldn’t let people say any problematic shit id call them out for sure.

What do you think about feminism? How did you come to that conclusion?

i fuck with feminism. fuck terfs tho im all about being inclusive and equitable to everyone regardless of gender.

If there was an alternate reality in which you had a debilitating, life-altering addiction, what would you be addicted to?

probably heroine. would love to try but i heard that once you do its the best you’ll ever feel so in my current reality that is not worth it to me. i want to always experience joy from everything in life.

What are your dreams?

i want to have a simple life and make connections with people. id love to move to a commune one day or live life in a mostly self sustaining and community based way.

Do you believe in ethical consumerism or is it a drop in a giant well that has already been dug by multinational corporations so it doesn't matter?

do what you can and don’t loose goals for yourself and what you can realistically do with your means. fuck capitalism.

Multiple-Choice Questions

What qualities are most important to you in a friend

Loyalty Honesty Humor Inspiration A and B C and D

What is the worst thing on this list

Processed sugar Stubbing your toe Throwing up Your mom(or another parental type figure) telling an old embarrassing story in front of new people Realizing you were scammed out of $30

Work is:

A means to an ends A way I bring my passions to life Something I do to better society A total bummer A myth that allows rich people to steal from poor people

Which poet's writing do you most connect with?

Sylvia Plath Rumi Rupi Kaur Rainer Maria Rilke Pablo Neruda

Do you feel like you've lived one life or lots of lives?

Lots of lives Once life I don't think about it like that I don't feel like I am living I am too busy living to think about it

How do you feel about answering all these questions:

Annoyed Intrigued Resentful Inspiration Excited to meet in person Neutral

Aristotle once said; "my friends, there are no friends." How do you feel about that:

Agree Disagree Neutral That's so cold and unfeeling! Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form. Form is not other than emptiness

Essay Question

Please describe a friend breakup you have gone through. If you haven't gone through a friend breakup, please explain why you think you have never gone through a friend breakup. Outline a major friendship in your life and explain why it is successful.

i broke up with a best friend of mine last summer. i tried to communicate multiple times about keeping our friendship strong and open but she didn't seem interested in that. i also began to feel like we outgrew each other because her values in life started to shift in a way that really contradicted with mine. i wanted to at least remain on speaking terms because we had been friends for so long and we also share other friends from high school. she wasn't interested in anything to do with me if we were no longer friends like we used to be so she “closed the door on our friendship” completely and broke up with me.

for a good friendship: i became friends with this person [REDACTED] in college. we bonded over emo/alt music and began going out a lot to hear the music at club nights. she became a very safe person for me to show my true self to and experience fun shit in life together. we’ve also bonded over having shitty parents and fucked up home life situations. we can be real with eachother without judgement and respect the other.