Do you feel like you're the same person you were five years ago? Which aspects of you and your life have stayed the same, and which have changed? Do you feel like you're on the right path for you? Is there anything you wish you'd done differently?

-- ann monroe (monroe@chorus.net), March 02, 2000

Answers

i realize that this is a big, huge, giant question. i'm probably going to write a whole journal entry as my full answer. so, don't be discouraged if you want to answer but feel like you can't cover it in full!

five years ago i still lived in a suburb of dallas (mesquite), and the person i was then was almost completely unrelated to the person i am now. my spiritual beliefs were about the same, i think, but less developed. i wanted to write fiction for a living then, but i was terribly unfocused about it. now i have a much clearer idea of the way the world works, and my goals are very different, and i actually feel like i have a clue about how to achieve them. the biggest difference is that, five years ago today, i had never been online or used email! i was right on the verge of that, though - i got online in late march of 1995, and my life has not been the same since.

i'll definitely write a journal entry about this stuff. if it doesn't appear within a week or so, drop me an email to remind me, mmm-kay?

-- ann monroe (monroe@chorus.net), March 02, 2000.

Wow, that's a rather broad question. I'll try to just talk about the changes in myself, not in my location, financial situation, and hobbies.

I've always had a pretty calm temperment, but over the past few years I've become even more focused on self-knowledge and expanding my view of things so that I can relate to just about anyone. I like being able to take things in stride and put myself in other peoples' shoes in order to figure out how and why they approach things the way they do. I'm working on understanding my own and other peoples' spirituality and separating the concepts of spirituality and religion. Up until now I've kind of shied away from people with strong spiritual beliefs because they freak me out. People with strong faith, especially those who try to impose it on others, will probably always cause me discomfort since I'm an Agnostic non-believer. However, I've made some progress towards understanding the need for faith for some people, and I recognize that spirituality and faith in God are not the same thing. I think I'm a fairly spiritual person by some definition in that I value being a good person in general. (I'm not gonna get into the whole good/evil thing.) Anyway, I've tried to become less self- righteous and a lot less concerned about needing people to be or think the same way I am.

I've toned down some of the more biting sarcasm I used to dish out and replaced it with less abrasive attempts at being witty. I sometimes slip back into slam-fests, but I recognize when I'm doing that and try to put a stop to it.

I've really started valuing close friendships more. I don't spend nearly as much time with some of my friends, even though I still consider them friends, because there's something lacking. I look for a lot closer interpersonal relationships with people. I have tried pushing my own boundaries and those of my friends (some didn't need pushing) and it has been very rewarding. I like the closeness and intimacy I've been able to acheive and I'm planning to keep pushing that direction.

That's enough for now... real life calls. -Aaron

-- Aaron (lordloki@serv.net), March 07, 2000.

I've become one of those La La Foofy Alternative New Agey types despite the terribly skeptical scientist in my head. Ah, yes, feet on the ground, head in the clouds.....

I did it all for the love of intuition.

Sadly for my enigmatic state, it was predictable even five years ago.

-- Ms. Enigmatic (enigma@chorus.net), May 11, 2000.