Oh god I’ve thought of this before, but never thought of those selves being valid as well. I’ve always thought that maturity was realizing that our past selves were idiots.
Going back through your old artwork is an excellent way to unintentionally begin thinking about this… especially if your “old self” did something that you like better than what you’re doing now. Looking back can be interesting, but is so depressing at times…
It’s always sobering when C&G takes one of my recurrent rants and says it as concisely as I never manage to. In 7th grade I wrote a letter to future versions of myself, with the sole purpose of acknowledging that they will be different versions, but they shouldn’t be dismissive or pretentious of that version, and remember that 7th grade me was a valid person, not invalidated by change, and that the letter was to be a permanent reminder of that.
It’s actually incredibly annoying, as things written by a 7th grade self are wont to be, but I can never delete it…
Reminds me of the promises in 12-step programs… “we will not regret the past or wish to shut the door on it.” Hard to have personal growth when it’s being chased by shame and regret of who we were and the parts of us that are still working on that stuff!
Love it. As Erica, I wouldn’t like a tatoo over my body. But the first reason is, I don’t want the pain of the needles on my skin. And, of course, the mark of the past self seems dangerous…
“The Blicero I loved was a very young man, in love with empire, poetry, his own arrogance. Those all must have been important to me once. What I am now grew from that. A former self is a fool, an insufferable ass, but he’s still human, you’d no more turn him out than you’d turn out any kind of cripple, would you?” — Gravity’s Rainbow, p660
“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.” — R&G Are Dead
July 22, 2010
I never wanted to move forward.
Personal development is just another way of admitting that you were wrong.
July 22, 2010
Oh god I’ve thought of this before, but never thought of those selves being valid as well. I’ve always thought that maturity was realizing that our past selves were idiots.
July 22, 2010
Going back through your old artwork is an excellent way to unintentionally begin thinking about this… especially if your “old self” did something that you like better than what you’re doing now. Looking back can be interesting, but is so depressing at times…
Staying in the present or future is more fun.
July 22, 2010
I was just thinking this morning that this is exactly why I wouldn’t want a tattoo, an indelible mark of a past self
July 22, 2010
I’m with Erica. … But I have never been able to decide if that’s healthy, or very much not healthy.
I certainly wish I could quit remembering some past selves.
Either way, I guess, the present is where it’s at, whether you like it or not… ha.
July 22, 2010
It’s always sobering when C&G takes one of my recurrent rants and says it as concisely as I never manage to. In 7th grade I wrote a letter to future versions of myself, with the sole purpose of acknowledging that they will be different versions, but they shouldn’t be dismissive or pretentious of that version, and remember that 7th grade me was a valid person, not invalidated by change, and that the letter was to be a permanent reminder of that.
It’s actually incredibly annoying, as things written by a 7th grade self are wont to be, but I can never delete it…
July 23, 2010
August and Everything After, the song ( http://everything2.org/user/Two+Sheds/writeups/August+and+Everything+After ), they left off the album of the same name. Appropriate enough reference for a strip about not being a part of yourself.
July 23, 2010
“Self improvement is masturbation. Self-destruction is the answer.” -Tyler Durden
July 23, 2010
If THIS guy (http://tiktaalik.uchicago.edu/meetTik.html) hadn’t stepped out of the water 375 million years ago, we’d have all spent the day swimming. :(
July 24, 2010
I often think of my past selves. Some of them wrote better than me…
July 26, 2010
My past self got laid more than my present self. I resent my memory of him for it. Now KY is just a state abbreviation.
July 26, 2010
Reminds me of the promises in 12-step programs… “we will not regret the past or wish to shut the door on it.” Hard to have personal growth when it’s being chased by shame and regret of who we were and the parts of us that are still working on that stuff!
July 26, 2010
evolution does not adapt things toward perfection or “better” states, only towards a state thats better for coping the present
July 29, 2010
Love it. As Erica, I wouldn’t like a tatoo over my body. But the first reason is, I don’t want the pain of the needles on my skin. And, of course, the mark of the past self seems dangerous…
August 6, 2010
the last two things Cat says sound like the tag line for a song. I believe I may have to just write said song.
great one, Ms D!
August 25, 2010
those aren’t carhartts
September 12, 2010
“The Blicero I loved was a very young man, in love with empire, poetry, his own arrogance. Those all must have been important to me once. What I am now grew from that. A former self is a fool, an insufferable ass, but he’s still human, you’d no more turn him out than you’d turn out any kind of cripple, would you?” — Gravity’s Rainbow, p660
“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.” — R&G Are Dead
October 2, 2010
@Jay
And we all know what happened to Enzian in the end.
Or, um, wait…?
R&G didn’t find much solace either.