Cognitive Dissonance
Ever try to escape your socioeconomic barriers so desperately that your hunger fuels your drive and you succeed?
Ever transcend into the next stage so suddenly, with hardly any time to become accustomed to the transition, that in the attempt to find ground in uncharted territory you become out of touch with the community that reared you, embedded your values within you, made you…you?
Ever feel, as an adult, that when you speak or reflect on experiences that shaped your world views, they seem so far away and disconnected from your experiences now — even though it’s only been a handful of years since you’ve had to be frugal about every dollar spent, selective about every social gathering that had a price tag attached, weighed the consequence of YOLO as you looked at the statement in your bank account the next day? Even while you still reside in the same neighborhood, but under completely different circumstances?
In that case, welcome to the perpetual existential crisis that claims my entire life. I’m not sure what chapter we’re in now, but it’s an all-too-familiar landscape and one that I’ll happily introduce newcomers to.
