Sara O'Rourke

Nostalgia



Posted: Thursday, June 04, 2009

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The person I am now, living and breathing today, is a light year away from the person I was a year ago. Having recently celebrated my nineteenth birthday, I have embraced the unknown and the excitement of the future, blind to the past. I feel it is of vital importance to continue in life and in growing up, cutting those strings that hold you back.

Although I am sure in a couple of years' time I will write again about the immeasurable amount of growth I have achieved, I feel like even in twelve months I have reached a milestone I once before couldn't see beyond the horizon. The person I was back then was a lot more worried and preoccupied; my mind was thinking about everything too much, living in the moment but predicting the future - and it was no way to be. I have learnt that in order to have a fuller life, it is a good idea to segregate chapters of your life. Close one and open another, and ensure its pages are blank, ready for you to write as the sun rises.

Of course, your past is not something that can now be touched and amended - it is there, set in stone. While you should vigorously separate yourself from it, be comforted to know that it is not all forgotten, for your past has made you what you are today, just as today will make you what you are tomorrow.

A good way to move on from something is definitely to throw yourself into something entirely alien to you and see how you come up. You will instantly see that none of the trimmings really matter - not how you look or how you say things, how you're folding your arms or crossing your legs - it will give you immense insight into the more natural version of yourself. It is important to step out and see how you are without all the extras.

This is untainted nostalgia. It is memory that makes you smile and laugh and recognise the wealth of character you have obtained along the way. At the end of the road, you will have a complete book depicting your life story. You will sit there one day in the distant future, old and wise with knowledge and experience, worn with the lines of laughter, and you will remember a new 'you' at the turn of every chapter. Each time you learnt something new, you changed.

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by sue thom
from nj 2 years 228 days ago.
hi sara,
 
i have an 18 year old, a son who is almost 22, and a daughter who will turn 23 in sept. i have watched the different stages of their lives, and it's pretty amazing how things change. i am grateful they do:) we've had dreads on 2 kids, tattoos on my son, and piercings on all 3. and now, my daughter wants to join the army, and my son is in the air force. my youngest still has long dreads, but is gearing up to have them cut. you are certainly right that each new chapter opens up a whole new way of thinking, and living.
 
thanks for sharing with us,
 
my best regards,
 
sue
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