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My Independence
Sep. 16th, 2008 08:52 pmLiveJournal's "writer's block" topic of the day is this:
"In recognition of Mexican Independence Day, tell us how you celebrate your own independence."
I actually know some of my answers. Now that I am a grown-up and can do whatever I want, I eat chocolate chips right out of the bag.
When I got a pile of money for graduating from high school, I got my own stereo with a tape recorder.
When I got some of my own spending money in college, I was most excited about having my own personal sets of scissors and fingernail clippers and always knowing exactly where they were. Now that I'm relatively rich, I actually have scissors in almost every room of my house. (Let's see: kitchen, office, living room, and bedroom.) Also, dictionaries. And writing implements. And bookmarks.
When I graduated from college, I got a guitar. When I graduated from grad school, I got a tent. I wanted a two-man tent, so I got a three-man tent so there would be room for two people and their stuff.
When I got a real job, I don't remember what I got except for paying off my student loans. Also, I finally went to the dentist and caught up on over a decade of no dentist visits. I actually see the doctor and dentist regularly, not just during those rare occasions when I have insurance, because I've always had insurance (so far).
Now that I'm relatively rich, I really enjoy having an emergency fund. I especially loved it that time my car broke down when I was driving to Dallas. No boo-hoo crying and begging my friends to drive an hour to rescue me and then begging other ones to drive me back to pick up my car. No siree. I left my car in the shop and rented another car and went to Dallas anyway. Ha!
Other changes I like compared to when I was (more) dependent: I watch very little TV (only good TV, on DVD with no commercials). I never lose water, gas, electricity or phone service because of not paying my bill, nor do I get evicted. I wear pants instead of dresses. (To be fair, I have mostly stopped growing out of my clothes, so I would be owning more pants anyway.) If my socks fall down all the time, I throw them away and buy new ones. I eat more whole grains. I hardly ever move, and never live in any place cold for very long. If I want to be on time for things, I am on time. (I admit, sometimes I get distracted and am late for things I would otherwise want to be on time for, but at least it's distractions I like.)
**
Most of the things listed above are connected to money. That's probably because I got to make a lot of my own decisions when I was a kid, so I didn't have to wait for independence to get to do most things I wanted.
**
Independence is one of those many traits that you could have either too much or too little of. I've only met one person who might have too much of it. (He never wanted to let people help him, even if they were just doing it to flirt.) I'm probably biased, though, because I tend to err in that direction. I'm not really all that independent, more interdependent: I don't provide my own food, water, clothing, shelter, electricity, etc. But some people think I'm too independent anyway somehow.
"In recognition of Mexican Independence Day, tell us how you celebrate your own independence."
I actually know some of my answers. Now that I am a grown-up and can do whatever I want, I eat chocolate chips right out of the bag.
When I got a pile of money for graduating from high school, I got my own stereo with a tape recorder.
When I got some of my own spending money in college, I was most excited about having my own personal sets of scissors and fingernail clippers and always knowing exactly where they were. Now that I'm relatively rich, I actually have scissors in almost every room of my house. (Let's see: kitchen, office, living room, and bedroom.) Also, dictionaries. And writing implements. And bookmarks.
When I graduated from college, I got a guitar. When I graduated from grad school, I got a tent. I wanted a two-man tent, so I got a three-man tent so there would be room for two people and their stuff.
When I got a real job, I don't remember what I got except for paying off my student loans. Also, I finally went to the dentist and caught up on over a decade of no dentist visits. I actually see the doctor and dentist regularly, not just during those rare occasions when I have insurance, because I've always had insurance (so far).
Now that I'm relatively rich, I really enjoy having an emergency fund. I especially loved it that time my car broke down when I was driving to Dallas. No boo-hoo crying and begging my friends to drive an hour to rescue me and then begging other ones to drive me back to pick up my car. No siree. I left my car in the shop and rented another car and went to Dallas anyway. Ha!
Other changes I like compared to when I was (more) dependent: I watch very little TV (only good TV, on DVD with no commercials). I never lose water, gas, electricity or phone service because of not paying my bill, nor do I get evicted. I wear pants instead of dresses. (To be fair, I have mostly stopped growing out of my clothes, so I would be owning more pants anyway.) If my socks fall down all the time, I throw them away and buy new ones. I eat more whole grains. I hardly ever move, and never live in any place cold for very long. If I want to be on time for things, I am on time. (I admit, sometimes I get distracted and am late for things I would otherwise want to be on time for, but at least it's distractions I like.)
**
Most of the things listed above are connected to money. That's probably because I got to make a lot of my own decisions when I was a kid, so I didn't have to wait for independence to get to do most things I wanted.
**
Independence is one of those many traits that you could have either too much or too little of. I've only met one person who might have too much of it. (He never wanted to let people help him, even if they were just doing it to flirt.) I'm probably biased, though, because I tend to err in that direction. I'm not really all that independent, more interdependent: I don't provide my own food, water, clothing, shelter, electricity, etc. But some people think I'm too independent anyway somehow.