How are you?

Such a habitual, everyday question remains one of our most difficult to answer honestly and fully. Where do we even begin? Are we ever possessed by just one state or feeling? What moves the tides of our emotional lives?

'Friendships are chosen. Family are not chosen. By definition, if something's chosen, it's chosen for certain kinds of reasons … the concept of friendship and the concept of being a father, a mother, a sister or a brother … they have standards. They're not always the standards of morality.'Raimond Gaita

In a thoughtful discussion to address our very large – and more nuanced – human dilemmas, Raimond Gaita, Jane Caro, Benjamin Law, Kristin Alford and Sammy J  interrogate our search for meaning and contentment within our own circumstances (including gender, cultural background, upbringing and socio-economic position). Why happiness rather than contentment? Why does a part of us want to destroy what we love? Are we born happy, spending our lives defending that, or are we born neutral – destined to spend our lives trying to attain happiness?

How is it possible to be incredibly happy and incredibly sad at the same time? Our Brains Trust attempt to resolve the complicated experiences of satisfaction, kindness and contradiction.Your tweets

Why are people nicer to you on your birthday? They are thankful that you exist #askinterrobang#speccypic.twitter.com/lluaYkyPrB— Sue Hogg (@planetsuzie) November 28, 2015

Jane Caro advocates for realistic lower expectations so that it'll be easier to find happiness. #askinterrobang— Shannon Hick (@Toast_forDinner) November 28, 2015

"The baseline for happiness is remarkably easy to achieve" - how much do we really need to be happy? @mrbenjaminlaw at #askinterrobang— Rose Johnstone (@RoFloJohnstone) November 28, 2015

‘What sort of friend are you; do you think you should be? What do you offer?’ @kristinalford#askinterrobangpic.twitter.com/BiebbLmVXx— The Interrobang (@askinterrobang) November 28, 2015

Do soul mates exist & what are the chances of meeting them? RaiGaita jumps in 'she's sitting right there' audience weeps 💗 #askinterrobang— Shannon Hick (@Toast_forDinner) November 28, 2015

'The concept of #friendship and the concept of being a father, or a mother, or a sister, or a brother – they have standards. They're not always the standards of #morality, because #love can sometimes compete with morality … the idea that you can have friendship without the possibility of guilt strikes me as foolish; like the idea that you could have love without the possibility of sorrow.' #RaimondGaita, exploring questions of relativity and hope at 'Why are people nicer when it's your birthday?', part of #askinterrobang today.

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