Then versus now: How have you changed?

[Kelti]

This topic is asking you to look back in time. As in, when you first joined Gaia. What kind of person were you back then? What kind of person are you now?

What changes have you made physically/mentally? What has remained the same for you? How have you grown as an individual in society? Is frequenting Gaia still part of a daily routine, or is it an every-once-in-awhile for you?

I joined Gaia when I was 14, as indicated in another topic. I'm 22 now. At 14, I was an introverted individual who spent most of her days on Gaia or drawing. Video games were a huge deal for me back then; it was how I spent my time over summer. I considered myself someone who wasn't worth calling up to see if I wanted to hang out for the day, because, well...no one ever did. Efforts I had made usually ended up flopping.

Now, today, I'm different in some aspects but the same in others. I still consider myself introverted, but no where to the degree I used to be. I have a wonderful boyfriend (2+ years now) whom I spend my time with as my schedule allows. We occasionally see other friends of ours, which is amazing, because we knew the same people, but not each other for awhile.

I think I'm more engaging with people since I work in the food service, and the incredible thing is, people appreciate me in the skin I'm in. I don't need to make myself a bombshell to be appreciated.

... Yeah, the cosmetics part hasn't changed for me.

My biggest change? I've had my long hair whacked, so I keep it short now. It's a lot more manageable that way.

OkaySO.

What do you have to say?  

[Reeves]

When I first joined Gaia, I was pretty socially awkward. I obviously pulled a very weird stunt in my early years on the site, annnnnd that's all I'm gonna say on that. My writing craft was pretty underwhelming, and truth be told, I wasn't being entirely true to myself.

Now that I've gone from 15 to 23? Well...

- I've written two novels, seven plays, and several poems and scripts.
- I've graduated college.
- I work as a teacher, which I never thought I'd want to do.
- I am SUPER GAY. With a beautiful girlfriend. We've been together for a year and a half.
- I have many wonderful friends who think I'm funny and creative. I've definitely gotten a lot better socially.

Yaaaaay!  

[Kelti]

Reeves

When I first joined Gaia, I was pretty socially awkward. I obviously pulled a very weird stunt in my early years on the site, annnnnd that's all I'm gonna say on that. My writing craft was pretty underwhelming, and truth be told, I wasn't being entirely true to myself.

Now that I've gone from 15 to 23? Well...

- I've written two novels, seven plays, and several poems and scripts
- I've graduated college.
- I work as a teacher, which I never thought I'd want to do.
- I am SUPER GAY. With a beautiful girlfriend. We've been together for a year and a half.
- I have many wonderful friends who think I'm funny and creative. I've definitely gotten a lot better socially.

Yaaaaay!

surprised Wow!

That's really quite the accomplishment. Two novels and seven plays!?

Are you student teaching or are you a full-blown teacher now? It's amazing that you were able to find a teaching job in this economy. Are you teaching one subject or multiple subjects?

And that's really great that you've come out, too! That takes a lot of courage to do, considering how touchy people can be about it. But I'm really happy that you've found someone for the right reasons (Being yourself)!

adkfjaklfjaewklfjkljf SPAM SQUEE. whee heart  

[Reeves]

Kelti

Reeves

When I first joined Gaia, I was pretty socially awkward. I obviously pulled a very weird stunt in my early years on the site, annnnnd that's all I'm gonna say on that. My writing craft was pretty underwhelming, and truth be told, I wasn't being entirely true to myself.

Now that I've gone from 15 to 23? Well...

- I've written two novels, seven plays, and several poems and scripts
- I've graduated college.
- I work as a teacher, which I never thought I'd want to do.
- I am SUPER GAY. With a beautiful girlfriend. We've been together for a year and a half.
- I have many wonderful friends who think I'm funny and creative. I've definitely gotten a lot better socially.

Yaaaaay!

surprised Wow!

That's really quite the accomplishment. Two novels and seven plays!?

Are you student teaching or are you a full-blown teacher now? It's amazing that you were able to find a teaching job in this economy. Are you teaching one subject or multiple subjects?

And that's really great that you've come out, too! That takes a lot of courage to do, considering how touchy people can be about it. But I'm really happy that you've found someone for the right reasons (Being yourself)!

adkfjaklfjaewklfjkljf SPAM SQUEE. whee heart

I actually work in AmeriCorps currently, heading a literacy program for young girls. It's a year-long gig, but once it's done, hopefully I can use the education prize I get from it to get a single-subject teaching credential and teach English. My dream is to be a writing professor at a university.

Also, so glad you're happy for me! It's sometimes hard to find support for who I am, and I'm always thrilled to know someone who loves me no matter what.

Yaaaaay! whee heart  

[Theodra]

Well, I also joined the site when I was 14.
It blows my mind that I have been here for
almost a decade.

1. I graduated (college and high school).

2. I received my teaching certificate in art.

3. I have had a few boyfriends, but my current
one is definitely the best ever. He's really great!

4. I've been working at a summer camp for the
past four years, mainly with adults who have
special needs. It has definitely changed my
life for the better.

5. Right now I'm unemployed and horrified by
the amount of loans I have. I am also looking
for work and trying not to move far from home,
but in PA there are very few teaching jobs, and
art is the first one to go in every school district.

6. I do have an interview for a sub job on
Thursday! At least it's something.



So, there it is people. cat_3nodding

 

[Reeves]

Glad you have a lovely boyfriend! And I really am thinking about getting a teaching credential, though I'm unsure of where to go. I really need to sit down and look s**t up. 'Cause, you know...that's a good thing to do if you're interested in doing something.  

[RabidVox]

We'll take turns on the wind!  

[Reeves]

RabidSidian

We'll take turns on the wind!

The Wind would make a very good roller coaster name.  

[NogginDew]

You all seem to be doing great! biggrin

I joined when i was 15 years old and I was very shy and generally angry with the world. I played a lot of video games, and spend a lot of time online. I was very much like Kelti in the sense that I felt like the kid that never got invited to hang out, so I spent a lot of time alone. My only real social interractions were when I went to LAN parties and that's where I started making real friends. I fell in love with a Gaian named Slonny, which was my first realization that I may be gay. We became very close friends, but the romantic love was unrequited. He was the only person I really hung out with so when I finally realized that my love was destroying me, I came out of the closet and struck out to start making more friends. Then I met an amazing group of people and adapted more towards a social-butterfly way of living, being more aggressive and putting more effort into my friendships.

Now, I'm 25 and still have no idea what I'm doing with my life and also, like Kelti, work in the service industry. I'd love to be a lighting and sound tech for a music venue, BUT I'm happy working in the service industry. You meet a lot of interesting people and it forces me to step out of my shell and talk to strangers, which I normally don't do. I still get angry from time to time and I still generally think that people are ********' stupid, but I suppose that's what makes friends more special to me. smile I now live in the city I love, surrounded by wonderful people with the one I love. Life is hard and we've been through a lot of s**t. We're broke and only finally finding a stable place to live, but we're makin' it work our way. Also, we're getting married in March.

HE PUT A ********' RING ON IT.  

[Reeves]

Note to self: Check other threads for answers before asking questions. Because now I know when your wedding is, Noggin.

Also, VICTORY!!!  

[NogginDew]

Reeves

Note to self: Check other threads for answers before asking questions. Because now I know when your wedding is, Noggin.

Also, VICTORY!!!

 

[The Doom Merchant]

I...wow. I didn't realize it had been so long. I joined Gaia with my original account when I was 14--back then, my online handle was Mithril in most places, Gaia included. A few months after joining Gaia, tired of finding "Mithril" taken as I migrated to more populated areas of the internet [I had to join Gaia as xMithrilx, for example] I eventually decided to change my handle to something uniquely mine--The Doom Merchant, which is the handle I continue to use all over the interbutts to this very day.

As for who I was at the time...
Without going into too much detail [PERSONAL LIFE BUSINESS and all], I came to Gaia at a very bad time in my life. During discussions and/or therapy, I consistently cite the age of fourteen as the worst year of my life. I was going through a lot of really horrible s**t, most of which I was far too young to deal with properly. I hated my family, I hated most of my 'friends'; more than any of that, though, I hated myself. I was angry at the world, and confused about a lot of things. I spent all of my time outside of school either on the internet or sleeping, both in attempts to avoid dealing with what was going on in my life. I had some very good online friends, but absolutely no meatspace friends apart from my pet cockatiel, Birdie.

Where am I now? well, depending on how you look at it, not far from where I started.

I'm 22. I graduated high school, and after taking a gap year in-between, I am close to graduating college. I still live at home, largely out of convenience [it's near campus, and it's free!]. I no longer hate my parents, and while I'm still not a fan of me, I don't possess the violent hatred of myself that I used to. I've been in two serious relationships, though both of them left me in the end. Right now I'm trying to focus on becoming okay with who I am before I seek validation from others, since it's become clear to me that my sickness is what my exes found attractive--and once they realized mental illness isn't cool or fun to be around, they skipped out. I'm properly single now for the first time in nearly four years, and while it's been infuriatingly difficult to get used to [making out and spooning WERE SUCH AWESOME THINGS YOU GUYS], I'm aware that this is where I need to be. I'm confident in my complicated sexuality [or lack thereof], which sounds like a mixed drink; asexual-demisexual-homoromantic. We call ourselves Grey-As for short. I've also legally changed my name--Doom Merchant is literally on my driver's license now. I feel that it defines me better than my given name ever did.

So. I'm in my early twenties. Almost a college graduate, though I'm not sure what I'll do after that. I'm single, though not by choice. I work for the state, which gives me some awesome references if/when I decide to move on and work elsewhere. Birdie turned twelve years old in October. Neither of us have died yet. That's really all I can ask for, some days.

Still. Things are vastly better than they were. I like to think that the friendships I've forged online played no small part in that. While I don't spend much time on Gaia anymore, I do still spend nearly all of my time online. I've just shifted over to tumblr, which is probably good, because that means I'm not spending money on pixels anymore. Heh.

So that's that.  

[NogginDew]

The Doom Merchant

Neither of us have died yet. That's really all I can ask for, some days.

[Reeves]

God, I love your Tumblr posts, Doomy.  

[The Doom Merchant]

Reeves

God, I love your Tumblr posts, Doomy.

I try to run a pretty quality blag. cool
I mean, I fail most of the time, but sometimes it's okay.