Imagine moving out of your parents' home, leaving behind some of your stuff in a moving box. Years later your mom calls you and wants you to pick up the rest of your belongings because they want to remodel your old bedroom. You get back and when you open the moving box you're immediately vaulted back to a time that you've long forgotten.
Something similar happened to me the other day. I met a friend who I hadn't seen or spoken to for ages. He started talking about long forgotten friends, about places we had been and things we had done. And I had a pretty hard time. It felt as if he was talking about someone who doesn't exist anymore and that someone was me. Had I really liked that music? Had I really been friends with a girl named Christiane? Do I want to know where she's living now?
So many cobwebs in one single conversation
A couple of days later I got an email from a member of a forum that I had frequented regularly but had completely forgotten. Out of curiosity I went there and when I saw my old avatar, my old nickname and my old personal messages it was such a weird feeling.
The people there wanted to know what I had been up to and when I told them about Europe689, DTour, a wedding in Florida, friends from Latvia, the US and Australia, they reacted as if I had grown two heads. Yeah, that's me. I'm no longer standing at the sidelines, watching how other people lead their lives. I'm right in the middle of it.
"You've changed," they all said.
Wrong.
For the first time in my life I'm with people I feel comfortable with and can truly be just like I am.
"The best thing in life are the people you love, the places you've seen and the memories you've made. Life goes on. I have travelled, visited places, felt the heat of the sun on my skin ... learnt to enjoy every moment." (as seen on a shirt)