Delighted younger selves

[sonia]

I realized today that younger me would be speechless with astonished delight that I get to have private lessons with a master singer who kindly and patiently teaches me cool Balkan songs. (The fact that it's a video call is just a bonus.) It's not so much a dream come true as something I didn't dream was possible for me.

And how did it come about? An inner drive to learn and sing Balkan music strong enough to make me take the risk of attending workshops, start my own group, and then when it was struggling, reach out for help to a teacher I had met at workshops over the years.

What happens in your life that would delight and astonish your younger self? How did you get there?

Comments

[asakiyume]

That feeling--getting to enjoy the delight of your past self--is marvelous, isn't it? And Balkan songs make me shiver; they're lovely. That's so cool!

I think my adolescent self would have been proud that older-self went to Timor-Leste by herself. I think that's the most intrepid thing I've ever done, and I did it from nothing--I had no connections to call on. (I still was advantaged in all sorts of ways; I was able to save up money to make the trip, and then I was able to take time off from work, etc.--not things that are possible for everyone--but within those parameters, I did it from scratch.)

[sonia]

That is an amazing badass thing to have done! Do you remember where the idea came from and what pushed you to do it despite not having connections?

[asakiyume]

Oh definitely: I got interested in Timor-Leste when I was doing research for Pen Pal, but quickly my interest in the place grew beyond what was useful for the story.

[sonia]

Neat! I went back and looked at your entries after the trip, since I wasn't reading your journal then.

[asakiyume]

Aww, thank you for taking a look--I appreciate that.

[sonia]

<3 They're entrancing! Beautiful photos and writing.

[minoanmiss]

This is a gorgeous question. :)

My younger self would be shocked and privately delighted at my current life. I'm not anything like I was supposed to grow up to be: I'm not Christian, a doctor, or married. But I live in a wonderful household and I have two amazing sweeties and I get to do what I want these days. I was pretty afraid of my parents grwing up, and even now every so often I take a deep breath and think about how nice it is to not be scared anymore. (Or at least I did until 2016, but I'm hoping to get back there.)

[sonia]

Yay for younger self's private delight in your wonderful household and amazing sweeties! And yay for not living with people you're scared of anymore. I join you in hoping that you (and all of us) get back to not being scared.

Glad you liked the question!

[batdina]

Hey! I'm a freaking Rabbi! When I first thought I wanted to be one, no one was ordaining women at all, much less lesbians. It's so cool to be an out trans-masculine lesbian and a Rabbi at the same time. I never would have believed it possible 40-some years ago.

[The road to get here was so convoluted, and included three tries at graduate school, and finally pulling out after being advanced to candidacy because I was so miserable. And my mother dying, etc. I'll tell the story some day. I have another story to tell before the 24th though.]

[sonia]

Three cheers for being a freaking Rabbi as your own fine self! Looking forward to the story when the time is right. Good for me to notice that this kind of delight seems to come from really hard roads.

[rosefox]

I actually write periodic posts about going back in time to amaze my younger self (or selves) with what I've been up to. It's a fun thought experiment.

I think that most of what's in the second post (from four years ago) is what I'd cite: all my friends and a library on a supercomputer that lives in my pocket, an anthology with my name on the cover, two spouses who love each other, a child I adore and didn't have to give birth to. The most significant development since then has been in my spiritual life. My next post in that series is due in eight years, and I have no idea what new cool things will happen in my life between now and then! It'll be exciting to find out.

[sonia]

Those posts are great! And those are a lot of awesome life developments. It's good to look forward to new cool things in the future (as opposed to new disasters...).