Oh yes, I remember it well - I write about it (briefly) in next week's Qstack post. I was 5 years old and a mortal embarrassment to my parents, who wanted a chip off the old block so badly they named me after my dad. Imagine Ronald and Nancy Reagan if their little boy had been David Bowie. ;) Playboy bunny, eh? Amazing that you all agreed! I generally eschew group costumes but jumped at the chance to portray the Munchkin Mayor in our Oz-themed Halloween.
Love this, Donna! ❤️ The Sunday before last I wrote about the Shapeshifter archetype and the message from that one seems to want to continue coming up for me. What is our core essence beneath or beyond all the costumes we wear? What is that deepest truth of self? I remember having a similar experience to yours when I was in high school. I'll share the details when next we talk, but I distinctly recall sitting in church that morning trying to reckon if I was a willing fraud or a victim in that scenario. It may have been the first time I really thought about identity at all.
Sorry about my belated response Jenna, I have been away and not on my computer. I look forward to reading your essay about the Shapeshifter archetype! I think it's an integral part of being human and growth occurs when we begin to see it happening. As you said, once we begin to recognize our core essence and ask the questions we stop shifting so much. I find it interesting to consider the first time or two we started to notice this.
I appreciate you taking the time to leave such a considered comment, can't wait to chat with you soon!
Catchy title, gripping writing, and a poignant ending. This was great Donna.
Just recently I did some building work for a friend and that night I was writing. Then the next day I was doing my normal support work and that night I was skating — and at some point in switching between those different roles, I started to wonder who I am under all that.
Sorry for the belated response to your lovely comment Michael. We all assume roles, it's part of being an adult, taking on tasks and doing things in our lives that are, hopefully, varied but as we go through those roles we can maintain the essence of who we are (to steal a phrase from Jenna's comment above!). I guess the key is to figure that out and we're a work in progress🙂
Thank you for sharing this time in your life. I would have been happy to dress like a Playboy bunny. (I think I was a sexy cat one year.) My mom raised me to show off my cute figure. I later realized there would be a limit to this. The trick is realizing the mistakes and doing better next time— which is our annual theme for Yom Kippur. This piece is timely for us Jews. 🥰🙏
Thanks Hon. I’ve been meaning to write and wish you a meaningful Yom Kippur but we are in full travel mode so I will respond to your lovely comment as soon as I arrive home.
I love that your beautiful Mom raised you to show off your cute figure, that is such an empowering message to send to her daughters. You nailed it CK about learning from our mistakes. I think it's interesting to reflect on when the awareness began to seep in and bring me closer to my self - about the only thing I know for sure is the process seems to be decades long for me🤣
Love this piece, Donna, and the honesty you brought to it.
There are times in life when we need to try on new costumes in order to see if they fit. It’s an important part of the discovery process in determining who we really are. Hopefully, though, we get to a point where we don’t have to keep trying them on and can live authentically as ourselves.
Sorry for the belated response to your lovely comment Kristi, I have been away and just back to my computer. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.
You bring up an excellent point that seeing different sides of us is an important part of learning who we are are and what's important. To do that we not only need inner examination but new experiences that call us to show up in a different way.❤
I've been rebelling against my childhood, and church for years -trying to be my own person despite their early admonitions. However, as Kristi said - all of it landed me where I am today - and I'm satisfied with that.
This is so true Janice, every step gets us here - where we are now. Perhaps the biggest gift is in accepting that. Sure, there may be things we wish we would have done differently, and yet, here we are!
I appreciate your comment very much. Thanks, as always, for being here!
Church always made me feel like a fraud that way once I hit my high school years and had discovered booze and girls. One morning after my basketball team had lost the state championship game by 1 point, and we had partied until the wee hours, my Dad peeled me off the front lawn at 8 am and said “be ready for church in an hour.”
I was still wearing my letter jacket and clutching a plastic milk jug half-filled with 151 Rum and Coca Cola.
I felt a little fraudulent that morning in the pew for sure—breathing fire during the hymns.
That is a tough loss for a teenage boy and you have a very smart Dad. I'm guessing that sitting through that church service was just as hard for your parents as it was for you!🤣
I'm glad to be of service bringing up all your old memories, haha. Sorry for the belated response, I've been away from my computer for a while.
Stay away from the keyboard and stay outside in that beautiful Fall weather. I’m so jealous of the turning trees—particularly mountain aspens and cottonwoods and elms. Jealous ☺️❤️
We just got home from vacation, which was wonderful, and I stayed away from any keyboards except to read other writers. I will heed your suggestion and get outside as much as I can now that we are home because that crazy Canadian winter is coming soon!
I could write a whole novel on opposing/contrasting lives lol. Most of them were my choice, some of them were bad choices. But all of them landed me right where I am today so...there's that.
Thank you for your courageous testimony Donna. I always ask my patients a question: have you ever rebelled against your upbringing? This question helps me to get to know people's inner selves, the opposites that live inside them, their most secret desires.
Who hasn't wanted to be a playboy, even when they've been told to go to church every Sunday? That's what maturity is all about, coming face to face with our most intimate secrets and desires, the ones we're sometimes afraid to reveal. Opposites are in all of us, even in children's stories. Here's an example: Little Red Riding Hood, the well-behaved girl who decides to disobey her mother and is eaten by the Wolf. In this story, the Wolf symbolizes guilt and punishment. But there's nothing wrong with disobeying. I think disobedience is a sign of freedom, creativity and maturity. That's what sets us free
Rolando I love this thoughtful comment from a professional. Thank you for taking the time to be here, Your perspective on disobedience calls me to a deeper examination of my own thoughts of it. I've never thought of it in terms of a sign of growth and introspection before and appreciate the opportunity to explore it from a different angle.
(Sorry for my belated response but I was away visiting your beautiful country and off my computer.)
“Perhaps maturity means we begin to question our thoughts and beliefs, asking ourselves if they are truly ours or if they simply grew out of default and lack of attention?”
What a beautiful piece and photo, Donna! I really resonate with this insight; it truly reflects what maturity is all about for me. When I take the time to question whether my thoughts are genuinely mine or influenced by my environment, I find a deeper understanding of who I am. This journey not only helps me grow personally but also fosters a more meaningful connection with the world around me. It reminds me that true maturity is a continuous path of self-discovery and authenticity.
Thaissa, I apologize for such a late response to your lovely message. I have been away from my computer.
I love how you tied in maturity with a meaningful connection with THE WORLD AROUND US. It seems to me that this aspect of personal growth often gets lost as we constantly turn inward for examination but sometimes forget to see how we can take those attribute out into the bigger world to be ourselves in any situation. I find I can have it all together sitting in contemplation and then walk out of the room and...bang! It all falls apart.
Oh yes, I remember it well - I write about it (briefly) in next week's Qstack post. I was 5 years old and a mortal embarrassment to my parents, who wanted a chip off the old block so badly they named me after my dad. Imagine Ronald and Nancy Reagan if their little boy had been David Bowie. ;) Playboy bunny, eh? Amazing that you all agreed! I generally eschew group costumes but jumped at the chance to portray the Munchkin Mayor in our Oz-themed Halloween.
My heart breaks for that little boy and I'm glad to know he turned out to be the most amazing human💕
I am not a fan of any costumes, group or otherwise, so this whole thing didn't thrill me but I liked working at that bar so I showed up.
Love this, Donna! ❤️ The Sunday before last I wrote about the Shapeshifter archetype and the message from that one seems to want to continue coming up for me. What is our core essence beneath or beyond all the costumes we wear? What is that deepest truth of self? I remember having a similar experience to yours when I was in high school. I'll share the details when next we talk, but I distinctly recall sitting in church that morning trying to reckon if I was a willing fraud or a victim in that scenario. It may have been the first time I really thought about identity at all.
Sorry about my belated response Jenna, I have been away and not on my computer. I look forward to reading your essay about the Shapeshifter archetype! I think it's an integral part of being human and growth occurs when we begin to see it happening. As you said, once we begin to recognize our core essence and ask the questions we stop shifting so much. I find it interesting to consider the first time or two we started to notice this.
I appreciate you taking the time to leave such a considered comment, can't wait to chat with you soon!
Catchy title, gripping writing, and a poignant ending. This was great Donna.
Just recently I did some building work for a friend and that night I was writing. Then the next day I was doing my normal support work and that night I was skating — and at some point in switching between those different roles, I started to wonder who I am under all that.
Your post really brought that home for me. :)
Sorry for the belated response to your lovely comment Michael. We all assume roles, it's part of being an adult, taking on tasks and doing things in our lives that are, hopefully, varied but as we go through those roles we can maintain the essence of who we are (to steal a phrase from Jenna's comment above!). I guess the key is to figure that out and we're a work in progress🙂
Yes definitely, finding the thing that underpins all these different roles is a worthy task to undertake. :)
Thank you for sharing this time in your life. I would have been happy to dress like a Playboy bunny. (I think I was a sexy cat one year.) My mom raised me to show off my cute figure. I later realized there would be a limit to this. The trick is realizing the mistakes and doing better next time— which is our annual theme for Yom Kippur. This piece is timely for us Jews. 🥰🙏
Thanks Hon. I’ve been meaning to write and wish you a meaningful Yom Kippur but we are in full travel mode so I will respond to your lovely comment as soon as I arrive home.
No worries. There’s nothing like traveling. Glad you’re here. 🥰👏
I love that your beautiful Mom raised you to show off your cute figure, that is such an empowering message to send to her daughters. You nailed it CK about learning from our mistakes. I think it's interesting to reflect on when the awareness began to seep in and bring me closer to my self - about the only thing I know for sure is the process seems to be decades long for me🤣
Where ever you maybe, there you are, we are. Peace peace
You've got it Paolo! Thank you.
Love this piece, Donna, and the honesty you brought to it.
There are times in life when we need to try on new costumes in order to see if they fit. It’s an important part of the discovery process in determining who we really are. Hopefully, though, we get to a point where we don’t have to keep trying them on and can live authentically as ourselves.
Sorry for the belated response to your lovely comment Kristi, I have been away and just back to my computer. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.
You bring up an excellent point that seeing different sides of us is an important part of learning who we are are and what's important. To do that we not only need inner examination but new experiences that call us to show up in a different way.❤
I've been rebelling against my childhood, and church for years -trying to be my own person despite their early admonitions. However, as Kristi said - all of it landed me where I am today - and I'm satisfied with that.
This is so true Janice, every step gets us here - where we are now. Perhaps the biggest gift is in accepting that. Sure, there may be things we wish we would have done differently, and yet, here we are!
I appreciate your comment very much. Thanks, as always, for being here!
All is well
Church always made me feel like a fraud that way once I hit my high school years and had discovered booze and girls. One morning after my basketball team had lost the state championship game by 1 point, and we had partied until the wee hours, my Dad peeled me off the front lawn at 8 am and said “be ready for church in an hour.”
I was still wearing my letter jacket and clutching a plastic milk jug half-filled with 151 Rum and Coca Cola.
I felt a little fraudulent that morning in the pew for sure—breathing fire during the hymns.
Thanks for provoking that quality memory Donna 😂🙄
That is a tough loss for a teenage boy and you have a very smart Dad. I'm guessing that sitting through that church service was just as hard for your parents as it was for you!🤣
I'm glad to be of service bringing up all your old memories, haha. Sorry for the belated response, I've been away from my computer for a while.
Stay away from the keyboard and stay outside in that beautiful Fall weather. I’m so jealous of the turning trees—particularly mountain aspens and cottonwoods and elms. Jealous ☺️❤️
We just got home from vacation, which was wonderful, and I stayed away from any keyboards except to read other writers. I will heed your suggestion and get outside as much as I can now that we are home because that crazy Canadian winter is coming soon!
I could write a whole novel on opposing/contrasting lives lol. Most of them were my choice, some of them were bad choices. But all of them landed me right where I am today so...there's that.
Right!? Every step lands us here and I guess we become an adult when we realize that and stop wanting it to be different. Maybe🤣
You should write about the contrasting lives!
I just might write a post about it!
Thank you for your courageous testimony Donna. I always ask my patients a question: have you ever rebelled against your upbringing? This question helps me to get to know people's inner selves, the opposites that live inside them, their most secret desires.
Who hasn't wanted to be a playboy, even when they've been told to go to church every Sunday? That's what maturity is all about, coming face to face with our most intimate secrets and desires, the ones we're sometimes afraid to reveal. Opposites are in all of us, even in children's stories. Here's an example: Little Red Riding Hood, the well-behaved girl who decides to disobey her mother and is eaten by the Wolf. In this story, the Wolf symbolizes guilt and punishment. But there's nothing wrong with disobeying. I think disobedience is a sign of freedom, creativity and maturity. That's what sets us free
Rolando I love this thoughtful comment from a professional. Thank you for taking the time to be here, Your perspective on disobedience calls me to a deeper examination of my own thoughts of it. I've never thought of it in terms of a sign of growth and introspection before and appreciate the opportunity to explore it from a different angle.
(Sorry for my belated response but I was away visiting your beautiful country and off my computer.)
“Perhaps maturity means we begin to question our thoughts and beliefs, asking ourselves if they are truly ours or if they simply grew out of default and lack of attention?”
What a beautiful piece and photo, Donna! I really resonate with this insight; it truly reflects what maturity is all about for me. When I take the time to question whether my thoughts are genuinely mine or influenced by my environment, I find a deeper understanding of who I am. This journey not only helps me grow personally but also fosters a more meaningful connection with the world around me. It reminds me that true maturity is a continuous path of self-discovery and authenticity.
Thank you!
Thaissa, I apologize for such a late response to your lovely message. I have been away from my computer.
I love how you tied in maturity with a meaningful connection with THE WORLD AROUND US. It seems to me that this aspect of personal growth often gets lost as we constantly turn inward for examination but sometimes forget to see how we can take those attribute out into the bigger world to be ourselves in any situation. I find I can have it all together sitting in contemplation and then walk out of the room and...bang! It all falls apart.
Thank you for reminding us of this❤