The other night I watched the film of the musical 'Passing Strange' (http://www.negroproblem.com/passing/) by Stew and Heidi Rodewald. I really enjoyed the experience. I thought it was well written and well sung.
One of the lines struck me as a jumping of point for a good discussion. The narrator Stew(stewsongs.com) made the following statement and I paraphrase <Isn’t it strange that, when we wake up, we realize that all our adult life is based upon the decision of a teenager, perhaps a stoned teenager>.
I think those of us who have had a midlife crisis or two have some understanding of what Stew was getting at. I look at some of the decisions that my friends, acquaintances and I made as a teenager that affected our adult lives.
Decisions resolving issues such as:-
- Do I go to university?
- What university?
- What major do I take?
- Who do I go out with?
- Do I wear a condom, use birth control pills?
- Do I do drugs or booze or both or neither?
- Do I move from pot to the other stuff?
- Do I study or play bridge?
- Do I agree with Vietnam?
- Do I get a job or tour Europe?
- Do I have a career or have a kid?
I a I am where I am today because of the journey that those decisions started. I can look back and go off on a grand negative rant about the decisions I made or, believe that I made the best decision I could with the information I had at the time. My point is recognizing the fact that a lot of my life is a result of a much younger, more naive, less experienced person’s decisions where do I go from here.
The statement struck a chord with me. What I am curious about your response to these statements -“So what, that was then, this is now”, “Wow, I am still living in the shadow of one of those decisions?", ” I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now” and “I want a do-over!”
Please let me know, whenever you read this.
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