Dear 16 Year Old Me...
10 Things I Would Tell My 16 Year Old Self:
1. You won't always be so powerless. One day, you will have your own apartment, and your own money, and your own life, and you can finally stop being careful and guarded and live on your own terms.
2. Those feelings you have? Those sex feelings? TOTALLY normal. Stop worrying, being queer won't seem so world ending in 10 years.
3. You don't need anyone's approval, particularly your famliy's, which you're never going to get in the way you want. Get an earlier start on doing what you love without apology.
4. Relax. RELAX. The world is bigger than Ashland, KY, and your life will take you wonderful places. You're right to love diversity and intellect, and you don't have to live here forever. You're going to make it just fine in New York.
5. Respect money. It doesn't always just come to you when you want it, and you haven't learned to manage it well yet. Be cautious with the check writing and the bill paying, or you'll make things really hard for yourself later. Your credit score DOES matter in the long run.
6. If you ask for what you need, someone will give it to you. IF YOU ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED, SOMEONE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU. People love you but they can't read your mind, and you're going to keep being disappointed until you learn to tell people how to meet your needs and then give them the opportunity.
7. All of those things... those bad things that are happening to you and those bad things you're being told and those ways you're being hurt? You don't deserve them. Any of them. You're wonderful, it isn't your fault, and by the time you're 18 all of it will stop.
8. You're going to want to be an English Major in college... don't. It isn't practical, and that career you think you're headed for in journalism is going to suck. Take theatre, take screenwriting and filmmaking, and don't worry about being practical. You're never going to have trouble getting a job, so do the things you've always wanted and thought were frivolous.
9. Pursue other options for funding that independent liberal arts education. You don't really get it yet, but $60,000 is a LOT of money, and you're not going to be able to get out from that kind of debt for a long time. Don't do those student loans unless you absolutely have to.
10. Your straight girlfriends will never love you like that. Stop looking for what you need in the wrong places. Straight girls in general are not going to work out, so when you hit that fall in love with straight girls phase... skip it. It doesn't matter how good together you are, they're never going to settle down with you. ¶ 3:50 AM
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Another meme, this one I thought particularly thought provoking, that's making the rounds... 10 Things I Would Tell My 16 Year Old Self:
1. You won't always be so powerless. One day, you will have your own apartment, and your own money, and your own life, and you can finally stop being careful and guarded and live on your own terms.
2. Those feelings you have? Those sex feelings? TOTALLY normal. Stop worrying, being queer won't seem so world ending in 10 years.
3. You don't need anyone's approval, particularly your famliy's, which you're never going to get in the way you want. Get an earlier start on doing what you love without apology.
4. Relax. RELAX. The world is bigger than Ashland, KY, and your life will take you wonderful places. You're right to love diversity and intellect, and you don't have to live here forever. You're going to make it just fine in New York.
5. Respect money. It doesn't always just come to you when you want it, and you haven't learned to manage it well yet. Be cautious with the check writing and the bill paying, or you'll make things really hard for yourself later. Your credit score DOES matter in the long run.
6. If you ask for what you need, someone will give it to you. IF YOU ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED, SOMEONE WILL GIVE IT TO YOU. People love you but they can't read your mind, and you're going to keep being disappointed until you learn to tell people how to meet your needs and then give them the opportunity.
7. All of those things... those bad things that are happening to you and those bad things you're being told and those ways you're being hurt? You don't deserve them. Any of them. You're wonderful, it isn't your fault, and by the time you're 18 all of it will stop.
8. You're going to want to be an English Major in college... don't. It isn't practical, and that career you think you're headed for in journalism is going to suck. Take theatre, take screenwriting and filmmaking, and don't worry about being practical. You're never going to have trouble getting a job, so do the things you've always wanted and thought were frivolous.
9. Pursue other options for funding that independent liberal arts education. You don't really get it yet, but $60,000 is a LOT of money, and you're not going to be able to get out from that kind of debt for a long time. Don't do those student loans unless you absolutely have to.
10. Your straight girlfriends will never love you like that. Stop looking for what you need in the wrong places. Straight girls in general are not going to work out, so when you hit that fall in love with straight girls phase... skip it. It doesn't matter how good together you are, they're never going to settle down with you. ¶ 3:50 AM
