A dear friend from college stumbled across my blog and wrote me that "You still seem, in many ways, like the old Brad I remember--slightly irreverent, always pushing the edge, always analytical."
My first reaction was: great--twenty years without any personal growth or change. My second reaction was to be thankful for the various negative qualities that she didn't say... the emotional IQ of a cucumber, the attention span of a chipmunk, and various other shortcomings.
Mostly, though, I was interested in her description. I see myself as constantly changing, either in interests or personal issues or whatever, but I suppose at the core I have some stable personality that, for better or worse, defines me. I don't know why this surprises me given my familiarity with personality stability in the social psychology literature, but it still does.
4 comments:
A couple of years ago, I was back in my home town after a 20-year absence in the company of some old friends, and somehow (it's a long story), I ended up doing an imitation of Belinda Carlisle running across a stage during "We Got the Beat." Remarked one on-looker, "You haven't changed at all!"
An old flame googled ya, huh?
This was a pretty common refrain by the time I got Davis, in your wake:
"I had such a big crush on your older brother."
Heck, most of the time the voices behind those words were feminine.
That is a hilarious story Dan! Imagine imitating Belinda Carlisle all these years!
I'm not sure how to respond, John. In fact, in the off chance that Cathy sees this, I won't. ;-)
Brad - Wow, way to make me think. I had to post my thoughts to help me process. Thanks!
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