Old Emails

I think there's always something interesting about delving through old electronic messages. What I find most interesting about it - and mine go back to August 2001 - is the writing. The writing as I see it, is the same as it is now. In other words, in casual messages such as this, I, and others tend to write in the same way - the same style, word choice, and etc. Obviously the things we're writing about now have changed. I always look back on them as an insight into the past - but although it's 5 years ago, it's interesting to see how little has actually changed.

Which brings me to my larger point. In some degree we're always changing, thinking and evolving. But also, at some point, we kind of are who we are at a certain point. I don't see the way I write, act, or talk to people casually changing in any significant way in the future. I don't see myself taking on a different style or different beliefs. I think if you looked at things I wrote when I was 18, they will look like things I write at 28. Granted - things like essays, school work, and creative writing have changed a lot, and will continue to evolve at a much steeper rate. However, the way we talk to people, at least for me, hasn't changed. I obviously know more, I've been college educated, but the general, who I was, is not different at all. Is that good or bad?

I think when you read about things like the "alpha girls" or you see 17 or 18 year old kids who are very smart, it might cause one to be a little depressed. Certainly I was smart, but not as well versed as some of these kids today are at their age. I didn't know the facts that they knew at that point. Or, I did, but I forget now. But I don't think I did. I like this saying, whether it's true or not. In high school I learned facts, in college I learned ideas. In trying to recall the facts I learned in college, I'm hard pressed to name too many. Granted, I took humanities courses. But I think, in terms of my education, I certainly learned better how to think effectively, and how to approach different situations analytically.

I think one of the biggest things about college is the emotional education. So, in terms of things changing, the joy of getting older, in some respect, is that fewer new emotional experiences happen to you. Not that I mean that in a negative way, I mean that as a positive. It's easier to deal with things if it's your second time or third time dealing with it, rather than it being the first. I don't have any useful skills, but I have a well-built infrastructure.

not my first rodeo
-cjfer-