A letter to my 8-year-old self

For day 29, I am writing on prompt #8: “A letter to my 8-year-old self.”

Some context for the outside reader: When I was eight, I lived in New York and my family was going to move to Alabama shortly after I turned nine. I turned eight in July of 1999. I was in the third grade.

Dear 8-year-old Ashanka,

Hang in there; things are about to get rocky. I don’t want to spoil what’s to come in this letter, but I may hit a few highlights. I know how much you love surprises, and several good and bad ones are to come.

I know you love New York, your school, and friends, but, unfortunately, they won’t always be around. The world is also going to face some major changes in 2001, and the road will be bumpy for a while. These changes, however, are for the better in the end, so embrace them.

I am 22 today, and I can honestly tell you that you are a wonderful person. You have incredible friends, family, and a boy who thinks the world of you. The best things in life are indeed worth the wait.

Like most kids, your teenage years are going to be awkward, uncomfortable, and frankly, not so great. Things will look up though! High school and college are going to be some of the best times of your life.

You’re going to be smart, beautiful, and successful. I know patience isn’t your best quality, but stay persistent; life is pretty darn good in 2013.

Love,

22-year-old Ashanka

PS: Yes; you’ll eventually be saying things like “pretty darn good,” and the occasional “y’all.” I know you don’t know what that second word is just yet, but welcome it with open arms — trust me.

Don’t be so quick to judge those who haven’t experienced yet

Almost everyone has heard or uttered something resembling the following statement before: “How can you have gone so long/your life without doing _____?” If you haven’t, how can you have gone so long/your life without hearing or saying it?

I know I’ve definitely said it and have had people say it to me many times. Society has these “rites of passage,” so to speak, for everyone about everything. Things like watching Disney movies as a kid or Mean Girls as a teenager — come on, you know it’s true.

I’ll admit it. I have yet to ever see the movies Beauty and the Beast or Pocahontas. Go ahead. Judge me. I’m sure you’re thinking something like “How can you have gone your 22 years of life without seeing these movies?!” Or maybe you’re not. Maybe you’re one of those people that doesn’t think I’ve “missed out.”

Does this make me a social outcast? Sure, to some it might. Do I feel like I’ve missed out on an important societal obligation? Sometimes. But at the same time, I can argue that by not seeing these films or doing certain activities like carving a pumpkin (yes. I haven’t done this either.), I have a different kind of appreciation for them.

Sure, I’ll never experience them from the perspective of a young age, but I appreciate these experiences for their continuous ability to be present in the upbringing of people nation–maybe even world–wide.

While these experiences may help you understand some of the workings of society, I don’t think they should make or break the way people perceive you. I am guilty for judging someone in the past for not having experienced one of these societal “rites of passage,” but I’m going to try harder to not do so in the future.

It hurts when people assume you lack some knowledge because you have not passed some societal test. I know; I’ve definitely felt that way before.

So you haven’t had a Fudgesicle before. It’s OK. Maybe you don’t want to try one. Oh, you do? Well, let’s go get one and you can see what all the hubbub is.

how old are you?

Oftentimes I find that my tolerance level of a person changes quickly when they consistently do childish things that were perhaps humorous the first time or two, but got distasteful and completely unnecessary fast. There isn’t really a particular instance of this that I’d like to share right now, but it’s just something I’ve noticed about myself. Sure, others might think that some of the, what others might find stupid, things that people do are hilarious, but I beg to differ. Of course this would vary from person to person. People that I’ve known longer, my best friends, brother, etc., will have a much higher tolerance level with me as compared to those I haven’t known as long and am basing my knowledge of off first impressions that are filled with overdone stupidity. My point here is, there should always be a limit to how far you go with things you say or do. Limits that people should about themselves because, and I am guilty of it also, there is always a line that one shouldn’t cross. Absolutely idiotic, right? Why should there ever be limits? Why can’t we just be who we are and just go crazy. And now I perhaps sound as though I am completely contradicting everything else I’ve said up to this point. We should know our personal limits and our social limits but we should we really? This is really a tough thought. I think I’m going to leave this open and perhaps return to this idea at a future date.

growing.

Earlier today I was going through my old blog from many years ago and laughing at many of the things I wrote about back then. Through this I can see a lot of changes in who I am now as a person and who I was then. My diction and writing have definitely improved [trust me] along with my typing skills. Beyond this, my writing style is much more elaborate. My old blog generally consisted of very short entries about, well, not much at all. I think is partially to do with my age back then. I was 13-15 and there wasn’t really too much going on in my life. I hadn’t really hit the age where I began to realize more important things in my life. It’s amazing how we grow mentally over the years. Well, most of us. I don’t really have much more to say past this general thought tonight except that I am incredibly happy with how my life has come to be and am thankful for how I am growing up. Happy blogging! 😀