Who we were.

[Jody Gomez]

Barbara brought attention to the following quote by James K. on another thread, and I wanted to discuss it further.

"The boy I used to be is no stranger to the man I have become."

I look back at the boy I used to be, and I see a familiar face in many respects, but in others I see a developing mind that was not completed, or a misguided mind. This quote reminded me of a song by The Cure. It is called Lost, and no, it is not some existential angst. Robert Smith is in his forties, and this song is about stepping up onto a stage night after night and having to step back into someone that he once was and live out those passions of years, or even decades ago. Here is a sample of the lyrics:

I

can't find myself

In the head of this stranger in love

Holding on given up

To another under faded setting sun

And I wonder where I am...

Could she run away with him?

So happy and so young

And I stare

As I sing in the lost voice of a stranger in love

Out of time letting go...

...In the soul of this stranger in love

No control over one

To the other under faded setting sun

And I don't know where I am...

Should he beg her to forgive?

So happy and so young...

And I stare...

As I live out the story of a stranger in love

Waking up going on

In the other world that spins around undone

And I don't know where I am...

Should she really say goodbye?

So happy and so young

And I stare... But...

I can't find myself

I can't find myself

I can't find myself

I can't find myself

I got lost in someone else.

I wanted to approach this fireside friendly discussion with some of those here who have had to perhaps live out that story of a stranger in love. I know that Roger, Michael and Rich are musicians, and wanted a perspective of what it is like to muster up the passions of a yesterday, or a yesteryear in the presence of who you are today. I know that when I look back over some of my old writings or poems, that I am definitely confronted with a stranger. I can understand those passions, but no longer feel them.

[Ciro]

Jody, I am convinced that temperament is the main issue here. Temperament is innate, and never changes.

What we become is very much influenced by our temperament.

We can learn how to think and do things differently than before, but it's always the same person doing it, e.i. a human being with his own temperament

[Rich Engle]

Hi, Ciro!

"Philosophy," William James wrote, "is largely a clash of temperaments."

Never have I believed that more than this particular moment... 8)

rde