Story

A child of the 1980’s

As a person who began their journey in the 1980s, I do have the typical fond recollections of mix tapes, fear of nuclear war and communists, as well as fun things to do with hair and cloths. But they don’t compare to the strength and stickiness of experienced trauma. That’s what really shapes a person for the long-term.

The bingo card of life for the era wasn’t so different for many young people, including myself. Personal social awkwardness? Check. Parental relationship issues? Check. Emotional neglect? Check. The strange part, in retrospect, was how difficult it was for me to find kindred spirits in my classmates. So much time and effort is spent on the minutia of little nothing’s in the social test tube of our school. I can only imagine what it would have been like to have a better support system at home to guide my growth as a young person through these developmental stages. At least I can see the forest from the trees now, and make an attempt as a father to break that cycle for my family.

Adulting in a strange land of the 2000’s

Highlights of early adulthood and finding a path through life.

Late blooming as a person

It can’t be ignored that much of my life has been spent in a kind of stasis, waiting for the next thing in a chain of self-imposed expectations that I was barely conscientious of at the time. That rigid schema of expectation still exists in my mind, but being aware of it has allowed me to resist its influence. Now I can allow myself to exist as a person in a place, and it’s OK to not listen to the Furies of the mind.