Thinking about an ex-friend
Last Friday night I sort of met a person from my past. Sort of in the meaning that I actually did not meet the person, but I met my memories of her.
I went to see a play, a musical called In the Year 1985, which, surprisingly, tells about people living their lives in the 80s. Most often, I don't like musicals, but I like this one. The songs are real hit songs of that era, and all of them are published by bands and musicians who lived in Tampere, the third biggest town in Finland. Therefore it felt like a natural choice to place the events in that town and into the culture of the young people listening to that music at the time. Basically, it is a love story, but it is not a simple one. A boy meets a girl, the boy loses the girl, the boy finds the girl in the arms of his best friend, the boy loses his best friend and much more with him. That's it in a nutshell. A very entertaining experience with a flavor of profoundness in the mix. As I said, I like it.
In my life, the most important decade so far was the 80s. I finally left behind my childhood home and, in particular, my mother and her inability to accept my core personality. I left everything I was acquainted with and moved to a town in which I knew nobody. There I was free to experiment with people who had no previous opinions or expectations about me. I used that opportunity to the fullest. I found and accepted myself. I also found people who accepted me as I really am. During the next ten years I became the person I am today.
In the play I saw last Friday, there was a character who brought back an ex-friend who had quite an impact on my development. It was uncanny. The character looked too much like her: the body type, the shape of the face, the haircolor, the hair-do, the clothing. Everything was an exact copy. In addition, the character had her personality, too.
It was her personality that had an effect on the development of my personality. She was a talented student on my own field, more so than I was. I admired her work, but I did not know her well at the beginning. We had known each other for some years before we became friends. It was an experience I don't regret even if it ended badly. She had very different values and attitudes from me. I did not change my own world view, but I was in a position to straddle the border between the two.
From her side of the border I found some things that I still treasure. For example, I learned the allure of risk taking. Taking risks was not unfamiliar to me at the time, but in taking them I lacked the excitement she seemed to be experiencing. I had taken risks because I had to take them, not because I wanted to. During the months of our friendship I took chances I never had thought of taking before, and I enjoyed it. But I also learned the existence of the other side of the coin: the allure of the risk taking can lead a person to self-destructive behaviour without a person noticing the fact. As a result, I became more prone to take risks, but, at the same time, I became more conscious of the dangers hiding in the temptations.
We are friends no more, but I still have warm feelings for her. I hope she is having a good life, as I am myself.
I went to see a play, a musical called In the Year 1985, which, surprisingly, tells about people living their lives in the 80s. Most often, I don't like musicals, but I like this one. The songs are real hit songs of that era, and all of them are published by bands and musicians who lived in Tampere, the third biggest town in Finland. Therefore it felt like a natural choice to place the events in that town and into the culture of the young people listening to that music at the time. Basically, it is a love story, but it is not a simple one. A boy meets a girl, the boy loses the girl, the boy finds the girl in the arms of his best friend, the boy loses his best friend and much more with him. That's it in a nutshell. A very entertaining experience with a flavor of profoundness in the mix. As I said, I like it.
In my life, the most important decade so far was the 80s. I finally left behind my childhood home and, in particular, my mother and her inability to accept my core personality. I left everything I was acquainted with and moved to a town in which I knew nobody. There I was free to experiment with people who had no previous opinions or expectations about me. I used that opportunity to the fullest. I found and accepted myself. I also found people who accepted me as I really am. During the next ten years I became the person I am today.
In the play I saw last Friday, there was a character who brought back an ex-friend who had quite an impact on my development. It was uncanny. The character looked too much like her: the body type, the shape of the face, the haircolor, the hair-do, the clothing. Everything was an exact copy. In addition, the character had her personality, too.
It was her personality that had an effect on the development of my personality. She was a talented student on my own field, more so than I was. I admired her work, but I did not know her well at the beginning. We had known each other for some years before we became friends. It was an experience I don't regret even if it ended badly. She had very different values and attitudes from me. I did not change my own world view, but I was in a position to straddle the border between the two.
From her side of the border I found some things that I still treasure. For example, I learned the allure of risk taking. Taking risks was not unfamiliar to me at the time, but in taking them I lacked the excitement she seemed to be experiencing. I had taken risks because I had to take them, not because I wanted to. During the months of our friendship I took chances I never had thought of taking before, and I enjoyed it. But I also learned the existence of the other side of the coin: the allure of the risk taking can lead a person to self-destructive behaviour without a person noticing the fact. As a result, I became more prone to take risks, but, at the same time, I became more conscious of the dangers hiding in the temptations.
We are friends no more, but I still have warm feelings for her. I hope she is having a good life, as I am myself.