Are you radically different than your younger self? Are there key elements that have stayed the same? Most parts? Do you feel as if you’ve followed the “roadmap of life” or forged your own path? Have there been “chapters” or do things all sort of slide into one contiguous flow? Share what you’d like!
The bigoted version of me from 10 years ago would be shocked to know he is queer and a socialist.
Edit: he would probably also be shocked about the autism
closet case me would have his mind blown to know that there are classically beautiful men that are into average looking chubby bears; i regret not enjoying myself in my 20’s every time i get to envy all the 20 somethings enjoying themselves to their fullest at the clubs.
at least it’s fun to enjoy it vicariously as i watch them have fun. lol
I have some friends who never ended coming out. I mean, they told me they were gay, but they tucked that shit so far back it was in Narnia. I once seen Luenell say something like “It don’t matter what you look like honey, as long as you can make them laugh!” But really there’s all kinds and I have always felt in this world - as long as all individuals are down with the tango - let it rip! Don’t agree with the chase though, that’s just creepy. Let it go~~~~ (By that I mean one-sided interests)
You know one thing I can tell you is that I came up in the gay clubs and it was fun and cool and a certain way but I don’t really know how wholesome it was. And I remember always talking to folks and telling them that I just wanted to create a space that was healthier for young queers to traverse that didn’t have to just be at night (and I guess bookstores?)
But I think while everyone kinda lacks third-spaces now - that queers have a pretty accessible support network online. And some in person, depending on how they assemble. But either way, I think there’s a lot more you can do than get wasted and mack on someone nowadays, and that’s pretty cool. Cause it leads to healthier relationships with self and others I think.
One thing though, I will say you gusy can go to gay bars. Like actual bars, not clubs. If you’re into that kind of thing. Cause men of all age ranges hang out at those. But it’s also kinda a scene, you know? I’m not a gay man, just a lesbian who’s sibbies are gay men. So I love hanging with my guys. Big hug to ya sweet bear <3~
I’m not a gay man, just a lesbian who’s sibbies are gay men.
a group of lesbians came into the club i was at sunday and you could feel the disappointment oozing from them once they realized the kind of club it was; they were clearly dressed for dancing but the only booty shaking that happens there is of the prurient kind. lol
it seems to happens at least once a night and i think it shows the distance between the 2 groups but i’m glad they weren’t a gaggle of straight women this time; whenever they show up, they like to dominate the space to get between the men having fun and that makes everyone else leave.
I have much less wonder now, and it is ruining my day to day enjoyment at times. It is hard to dream big when you know more about the world, and how corrupt it all can be. They call it depression, but when reasons are provided for lack of opportunities it’s seen as downright shameful to be upset about it.
I miss the times when I was more naive about the world, it made it all interesting.
Reminds me of the events that transpired over the last half a decade or so.
Over the last several years my mental state was deteriorating. Stress accumulated. Various stuff, employment, overworked, underpaid. Inability to afford housing. Covid. War overseas. Had a mental breakdown at some point. Ended up on meds and in therapy. After multiple sessions was informed by my psychologist that “the reactions you’re exhibiting are normal for a person that has experienced all the items and stress associated with all we discussed up to now, unfortunately I cannot help you as the response is perfectly normal and there’s nothing wrong with you”
I still don’t know how I feel about that specific statement after several thousand dollars of therapy, but I guess it’s better than assuming my depression isn’t “good enough” to be real depression.
There’s a good chance the world should be ashamed to be in the state that it’s in, not for you to be ashamed that you finally see it as it is.
You might like this hidden brain on languishing and how if unadressed it can turn into other mental health issues. But basically the concept is you’ve got everything you need - yet you still feel this uneasiness inside your being. Your call, but it was an interesting listen. *It is tied to an author who just published a book just a heads up.
I had a listen, thank you.
Unfortunately it does not resonate with me since the issues I faced… or rather still currently facing, are basic things that are missing, for example not having a safe space or being able to afford a place to call my own in which I could even think to begin to thrive. It’s not that the shrink didn’t see my problem, it’s that he understood that most of these are socially engineered problems, that given proper legislation from the government for social services and habitat and controlling/reigning in the rampant runoff capitalism that we’re experiencing would alleviate or resolve, and unfortunately he, being a medical professional, is not able to assist with that. He validated that I was indeed exhibiting symptoms of severe depression from these items and did the best he could, but even today, the situation stays much unchanged in most of those items. And no, I don’t have much hope for anything to change in the future, despite all the social movements we’re seeing pop up.
I’d love to be proven wrong.
Have you ever thought about sparking your creativity? Idk if you like anything, but Lynda Barry’s Syllabus is kind of a fever dream but I really dig it. But I mean, just finding a way to get some of that energy out might help?
But yeah, everything sucks. Idk what the fuck is going on with anything anymore but it all sucks. I had to make a PieFed account to turn off the piles and piles of awful bullshit you can do absolutely zilch about. So I get this stuff, the art, the science news - all super! And someitmes I hop over to the other side and I am regretting it abotu three seconds later.
And I could do news if things were so cyclical, half the stuff wasn’t ads for people/things, and there was something I could actually do other than feel fucking horrible over what I am reading. And I know knowledge is power and ignorance is a privledge but hot damn - what am I going to do about even one freakin’ piece of news I read on this site? Like, what are others doing?
Eh.
Big hugs, you got this. Just keep going, and maybe life will send you roses. Or even if it doesn’t, maybe find joy in the small stuff? Eh.
Arnold H. Glasow basically covered this indirectly when he said “the fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion.”
Early 40s with 2 active kids under 9. Nothing works any more, constantly exhausted. 20 year old me had no idea.
Aww man, I’d be six feet under. Ugh. Not saying kill yourself, just saying I feel your exhaustion coming through the screen. On the plus side, you are explicitly forming the hope of the future. And that’s pretty cool. And when they’re grown, and hopefully they’re doing well - I really hope you feel pride through all the pain and exhaustion. Cause you did something/and are doing something phenomenal. I hope you’ve got some solid support?
In my 20s I got really optimistic about aging. See I was unschooled and never really had any life outside my home life, which wasn’t great. Didn’t get a high school diploma and starting my first job felt impossible.
Soon I made a group of friends, I discovered art, and I felt like I was capable of learning and growing and having a fulfilling life. I actually looked forward to being 30 because I thought I’d have matured a lot and learned how to live.
30 now. My friends were toxic. I lost my passion for art. I can’t find any work outside of retail and I can’t get an education because I’m so busy making ends meet. I feel like I’ve regressed into the worst version of my shut-in child self. I work and I get what sleep I can and I have no relationships.
I really hope this is part of the process.
You’re going to be okay. It might fucking suck right now, but you’ll be okay. I am not sure if it is still around, but there is a thing tied to everyone’s social security that can give you a free-education under x-amount of dollars ($30k?) training underutilized individuals w/ higher education and the trades. You could be a CNA if you’ve got the openess to it, you can do CNC training, you can do radiology tech stuff, dog grooming. You could do workforce at a local college. Maybe get a cert in wastewater which pays well. Or idk, robotics. It’s factory work, but it also pays well. It’s kinda like CNC from what I hear. You can do some freecodecamp.org on the low or Odin Project if you’ve got the time. I think following a class would be a lot safer, because you are kind of forced to a rythm over self-study. I wish I had more, but I know this much! Oh phlebotomy as well, you can study that. An ex of mine was fucked and then studied medical billing. They followed jobs across the US (recruiters) and ended up super wealthy. So that’s pretty cool.
For some people it’s really clear what they want and where they’re going. And for others it shifts. It sounds like you knew what you wanted, and then realized it wasn’t working. You can give up on art, but you know…you can find others to make art with who are fuck-faces. I have found sharing the joy of creativity sparks more. I’m making an equisite corpse with someone right now, but if you wanna make one too - I’d totally be down. Whatever medium, I don’t care. Just let me know.
I’m around =)
Are you radically different than your younger self?
Oh yes. Younger me was an intolerable little shit.
Are there key elements that have stayed the same? > Most parts?
Lots of stuff. Getting older is mostly additive, hobby wise. I’m just worse at all the physical aspects of each hobby.
Do you feel as if you’ve followed the “roadmap of life” or forged your own path?
I had a pretty clear plan and stuck to it. Make the pretty beep beep computer box dance, and charge people money for doing so.
Have there been “chapters” or do things all sort of slide into one contiguous flow?
Definitely separate chapters. 0-2: Literally full of shit. 2-22: Full of shit, because I didn’t know any better. 22-32: Full of shit, but working on improving. 32-42: Getting my shit together. 42-62: Still full of shit, after all that effort. 62-Dead: Probably still full of shit, honestly. Hopefully in a fun way, by now.
Oh this was fun. I think I was laughing through the whole lot. Hahahaha! You’re funny! Beep-boopers of a certain era are goofs, idk if it’s some intelligence -> wit type thing or what? Either way, keep kicking until you’re not. Sounds like you’re a goodun’!
p.s. - I like your talk about hobbies growing, but skill lessening. I love drawing, but it’s gotten harder for me cause sometimes I have MIckey Mouse gloves for hands. But I still love the act, so you know - even getting scratch down makes me =)
