Which past self do you have difficulty saying goodbye to? \ stacker news ~AskSN

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Which past self do you have difficulty saying goodbye to?

952 sats \ 23 comments \ @cryotosensei 20 Apr AskSN

The ceiling fan spun noisily above my head, a cool accompaniment to my efforts to declutter my stuff. My steady pace was interrupted by youthful pictures of myself from an era ago. Well, not exactly a lifetime ago - Sensei is prone to making exaggerations - but it has been more than a decade since I came back from the Japan Exchange Teaching program.

And yet, I remember those days vividly, like it had happened yesterday. (I doubt that I remember my child-rearing (mis)adventures as saliently!) I was the only gaijin (foreigner) in my schools in the Land of the Rising Sun. My job was mundane as hell, but every day taught me something new, whether it was an insight into the Japanese language or how Japanese youngsters thought or an observation of my host country’s work country. I miss my audacity to start life anew, my optimism that things would unfold okay, and my insatiable sense of adventure. Never would I have the chance to live life untempered by any predetermined trajectory (read: parenthood).

Yet, grow up I must. I steeled my heart, taking pictures of my carefree self, committing them to my digital repository that is Facebook, bidding farewell to him.

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68 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 20 Apr

Probably the one that yearns to get really immersed in video games. That kind of extended dedicated time just doesn't exist anymore and I really should just move on from it.

32 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 20 Apr

I look at extended dedicated time n salivate.

Swap video games with drama binge-watching - and you have me.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nichro 21 Apr

Ever finish a good one and wishing you could play it for the first time all over again... then realize that's a lot of time 😅 I felt that way with a few, including Witcher 3. No time atm, and if I get some it's probably best to play something new, and let the pristine first impression intact.

43 sats \ 4 replies \ @Aardvark 20 Apr

I've always had the advantage of hating myself, therefore, I don't miss any of my past selves.

42 sats \ 3 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 20 Apr

I hope this was a tongue-in-cheek remark rather than something autobiographical.

Hope you’re doing okay these days, what with recent events in mind

24 sats \ 2 replies \ @Aardvark 20 Apr

Lol, actually it's kind of true. I almost never look back on myself fondly. I tend to remember thing going wrong more than I remember things going right.

As for how I'm doing with recent events, I'm not too bad. My grandma did pass away earlier this week, but she was 96, so it was expected. My friends death was actually pretty dark, but oddly enough not entirely shocking either. I'd say I'm handling it all pretty well. Thanks for checking in though. 🥰

42 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 20 Apr

Grief comes in waves.

Hit me up if you need me.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Aardvark 20 Apr

Thanks, you're a good friend

39 sats \ 3 replies \ @Coinsreporter 20 Apr

I believe never dwell in the past. However this question made me realise that after quitting my job I'm back my student self, though I'm now a father as well.

11 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 20 Apr

Student self in what sense?

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Coinsreporter 20 Apr

When I was a college student. I'm now doing most of the things like I used to do as a college student.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nichro 21 Apr

Hobbies-wise? or reconnecting with the boys, ripping bongs type stuff? Or headspace/mindset even?

48 sats \ 4 replies \ @Cje95 20 Apr

It took a long time but the healthy version of me. The one that didnt have to think about how doing something now would affect my health tomorrow. It is a hell of a learning curve that I am still working on tackling.

10 sats \ 3 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 20 Apr

You have overcome so much.

Do you think your health trials have shaped the person you are today?

24 sats \ 2 replies \ @Cje95 21 Apr

110% but in both positive and negative ways I think. Good in that I am much more aware of keeping myself healthy but negative in that I am quick to rid myself of people who do not or refuse to see me as myself. A lot of people will look and act like oh he looks fine so when he cancels at the last minute or says he doesnt feel good that it isnt the case or they try and talk me into it. If I am cancelling because of health its bad plain and simple.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 21 Apr

I don’t see it as a bad thing. Drop people who don’t add value to our lives!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 21 Apr

It’s a lotttttt of people when you deal in politics! Constant revolving door for the most part 😂

48 sats \ 2 replies \ @nichro 21 Apr

Even if one clings mostly to good memories and ignores the bad in past selves, it is still important not to linger too much in the past, as difficult as that can be. especially for... intensely nostalgia-prone people (guilty myself).

I'd say the past self I sometimes miss is the carefree, imaginative escapist that did not perceive the passage of time. The one who could easily, and without guilt, fully investing the mind and escaping into fantasy and other worlds whether it's video games, hobbies, movies, books, or other means.

That reminds me, I used to alternate the genre of books Id read. Nonfiction, fiction, nonfiction, fiction and so on... Just hit me I haven't read any fiction in a while. Maybe I'm due.

30 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 21 Apr

Thanks for dropping by! Did you switch to non-fiction or do you not have the time to read any more?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nichro 21 Apr

I still read non fiction yes.

I think somewhere down the line I started to have less time to read and in retrospect, I must've flagged fiction as "non-essential reading" and cut there.

Thinking it over now, maybe that was a mistaken assumption, if you consider any reading (including fiction) as food for the mind and soul.

24 sats \ 1 reply \ @flat24 20 Apr

Some time ago I was a carefree island, I lived in front of the sea and my biggest concerns were that there was a quiet tide to sail that day.

I currently live away from the sea, I have family and many concerns. (I remember very longing to that from the past)