Yesterday, I went to a party and met a girl who was like me but magnified by about twenty times. She had the same interests and passions. She knew at least as much as I did about sustainability. She was confident, friendly and chatty — REALLY chatty. She hopped from topic to topic at whim. Her default responses were: “Nice!”, “It was soooo awesome!”, “She’s the most brilliant friend!”

I sat there listening to her waxing eloquent about everything she was involved in, every person she had met, every country she had been to, all the wonderful random things that had happened to her. Every time the conversation slowed down, all I had to do was prod her slightly and off she went.

“Do you like savoury foods or sweets better?” I’d say.

“Oh! Everytime I cook meat, I have to put at least three spoonfuls of honey on it! You have to try it. It’s the most delicious thing! The honey just caramalises over the red meat and…”

(Baiting her yet again) “Have you ever found a country or a people that you really connected to?”

“Yes and no. Sometimes, I thought I did. I’d be really comfortable in a place but I find that your needs change as you go through life…”

I was quite content to let her contribute most of the substance of the conversation. As I listened to her, I also realised this: The perceived value of your judgement requires variability of opinion. If you’re enthusiastic about everything, and everything is ‘awesome’ then you your opinions are less credible. Surely not everything can be brilliant and fantastic. People will start thinking that you’re either exaggerating or on happy chemicals.