Young Writers Society

I feel like you can learn a lot about someone through what they value. I'm really interested in hearing what your values are, so please respond with your values and maybe why you value that. :3

My values are:

openness/respect
I grew up in a very cultural environment; constantly traveling and experiencing things as a child that most adults don't experience in their lifetime and I've learned to not only be open about my thoughts and my emotions but also respect other people when they are from a different religion or culture.

creativity
I think art and creativity is so cool. I just think it's really amazing how you can make bad/depressing/dark thoughts into beautiful things.

honesty/loyalty
I value honesty because I just think everything is better when you are honest with people. Cut the BS and just be honest. I've had a lot of backstabbing dishonest "friends" and I've learned to appreciate the honesty some amazing people have.

My Values:

1. Respect.

Self-explanatory. I don't like it when people call a critic's opinion on a topic "pretentious", I don't like it when a critic calls a layman "stupid", I don't like it when an opinion is being undermined because it is a minority, I don't like it when an opinion is being undermined because it is a majority, etc.. Now, that isn't to say I dislike criticism, far from it. I dislike attacks without reason, be it verbal or physical--if you don't know the difference between the two, we will have a problem. Next.

2. Acceptance.

I can be incredibly accepting of some strange things, mostly because I've acknowledged some strange things about myself. I don't think anything is a problem until it hurts someone or something, so you can come to me with whatever kink, vice, poison or sin you like without getting judged. Though I will say I have yet to meet a person with anything I'd be surprised of.

3. Understanding.

If you cannot understand, do not pretend like you do. I admit to being guilty of this myself at times, but I try to remind myself this. The world would be a better place if everybody just sat down, ordered a beer and talked their way out of their problems. It's not like we have to constantly agree--what we do need to do is understand that we do not live in a world alone and that we must understand and accommodate for others' needs.

I have lesser values to which I judge how easily I befriend another person, that being:

a) an individuality or a uniqueness
b) a factor of fascination
c) a willingness to approach a problem in different ways
d) a willingness to acknowledge their own flaws
e) for a lack of better word and at the risk of sounding incredibly pretentious, maturity. No, I don't mean "I'm mature so I don't watch cartoons or play videogames anymore", I mean "I'm mature so I understand that the world is not perfect and it is frustrating, but that will not stop me from at the very least trying to improve the situation or make it more tolerable". Sorry for the cringey word choice, I'm sick of people misusing that word too.

Hm working in threes good with you?

Loyalty: I grew up to a father who expressed quite often to be loyal to family and friends, that I should be loyal even if the whole world is against them. I accepted that logic and took it on quite strictly. As long as family and friends stay loyal to me I would never betray them, and would go to quite outstanding lengths to help them, even with minor issues. I lack a sense of patriotism by the way, so my strong sense of loyalty shall never go to my country or even my town. Only to those I know personally and have grown to trust. Which seems to anger people.

Blunt Honesty: If you ask me something I will answer the question regardless of what it is. If it's something I don't want to or can't share, I will explain why, and point out ways they could earn that information. I do not like being lied to and go out of my way to avoid doing so myself, even if I end up looking foolish, bossy or like a jerk in general. In short I am a incredibly blunt person, though I try to be polite about it.

Knowledge: The pursuit of knowledge is the most fulfilling and worthwhile goal to me. Something that could keep me going for eons upon eons if I was somehow immortalized. I strive to learn and share what I learn quite eagerly. As knowledge should be shared with all. Learning and developing a understanding about the people, places, sciences, and reality around me in general is, in short, amusing.

Respect/Self-Respect
I respect anyone I meet right off the bat. Respect is not earned. Respect is something everyone deserves until they have lost my respect. Self-respect comes in when someone shows disrespectful behavior towards me. I will stand up for myself because respect is a two-way street. I'll respect you if you respect me. I will take away that respect if you take away yours. Respect means treating each other well, thinking about others when you do something that would affect them, and treating others the way you would like to be treated.

Loyalty
Like respect, it is not hard to earn my loyalty. If you're close to me, I will fight for you and give you love through almost anything. It's hard to lose me on this. Once I trust you and am loyal to you, it's really hard to shake me unless you do something awful. It has happened. Then you lose my loyalty AND my respect.

Hope
When respect and loyalty fail, and all your friends abandon you, it seems like there is nothing left but darkness. I believe you can find your way out of the darkness, though. Not everything happens for a reason, but I believe that you can find light, even if it's just a pinprick, and follow it out of the dark forest. That's hope. You can hold onto it because the night doesn't last forever. It was hard for me to discover this value, but now that I have it, I'm not letting go.

Freedom
I believe you should be able to do anything that doesn't hurt anyone, and you should be able to do it without judgement.

What I value might not be a description of me.

Understanding
What does it mean being understanding? It means not shutting your ears when someone speaks things that against your view. It means putting your view aside and truly listen to what others are saying. Being understanding means you acknowledge what is happening, what is delivered to you. It's different from being accepting, because while you understand what others are saying to you, you don't have to agree with them. This, I think, will avoid unfounded arguments that shouldn't be there.

Intellectual
I respect people that have these values, that treat knowledge as if it is the water that satisfies their thirst. For me, being intellectual is being passionate over knowledge rather than forcing yourself to feel like you have to know something to survive. I'm not talking about people who pursues knowledge to pass the exams the education system has given you; I'm talking about people who would hunt knowledge with any means, and are generous to share it with the rest without feeling they are more important or superior than others.

Love
I'm not talking about the one that would sometimes lead you to be sexually aroused; I'm talking about the one that is universal. Love is the opposite of hatred, the first reason I value people with it. It also something that connects us no matter how different we are in certain aspects. In fact, it would make our differences irrelevant to our ability to care, protect, and help each other. Giving love and receiving it makes us a better person, in my opinion, and it would definitely lead us to see how important each of us is in this world.

There are other values I respect and want to have, but these ones first came to mind.

Loyalty
If someone were to ask what I value above all else, it would be loyalty. In my mind, you cannot love without being loyal, you cannot be honest without being loyal, you cannot succeed or fail without being loyal to a cause. Once you're close to me, I will stand by you. If you need me to fight for you, I will do so until it kills me. I will do absolutely anything for my loved ones and the causes I am passionate about.

Acceptance
Although I dislike tolerance and do not think of it as a value or something that should at all be valued, I value acceptance. Where tolerance implies begrudgingly "dealing with" something or someone, acceptance promotes embracing wholeheartedly another person and their views. This also comes from a place of understanding. Sure, I might not agree with someone who is pro-life, but I am going to accept their reasons and not hate them for it. I won't say, "Fine, you're wrong" and go on with life thinking they might be a little dumb, because there are many fine people out there with different opinions, interests, etc. In other words, tolerance implies judgment and acceptance does not. I refuse to judge people.

Optimism
Having an optimist outlook is healthier and makes life better. Even you lose something, it's just a thing. If you fail a test, it's just one test in the grand scheme of things. If you have a bad day, that is one bad day in your entire life. Everything is meant to be and something good always comes out of something bad. Focusing on the negative is dangerous and pointless. I'd much rather be happier in the long run instead of dwelling on things that don't really matter anymore

Forgiveness
I dislike conflict and I never hold grudges. Ever. Because of this, I rarely get angry or frustrated with people. If someone does something wrong or something that hurts me, I accept it and I try to see it from their point of view first. Because of this, I forgive very quickly. I do not judge people for what they have done wrong, but for what they do right.

My Values

These aren't in the specific order that I value them. These are just my most important values.

Kindness:

Ever since I was little, being kind and nice was something I liked. I've had my fair share of bad people over the years, but my parents and the things I've read have always taught me that kindness is an important thing in life. If you're the type of person who offers help or opens the door for someone no matter how many things they're carrying, I'll respect you as a person.

Optimism:

This is something I often need to work on. I'm not sure when optimism became one of my values, but I suppose it may have been last year when I realized how depressing both the news and people could be. I know there's a lot of sad and terrible things that happen in the world, but there's two sides to the coin. This is pretty similar to the Hope @Morrigan mentioned in her post. Hope and optimism go hand in hand for me.

Loyalty:

My life has been filled with friends leaving me for various reasons. I'm sure other people have gone through this too, and I don't hate those friends that left me. They've taught me how important it is to be loyal to the ones in life who care about me. They've listened to what I have to say and have spent their time with me; being loyal is the least I can do.