While reading Julie Beck’s “Life’s Stories”, one of the things that jumped out to me was “But just as there are consequences to telling, there are consequences to not telling.” By keeping a story to yourself because you are scared of how other people react or you are ashamed of that part of you, you are just hurting yourself. By missing out on an opportunity to have a conversation with someone about the experience you are hiding, you are missing out on an opportunity to grow as a person. I personally never thought about it like this. I have had points in my life where I have had things that I have kept inside and never told anyone. I still haven’t told anyone about some of them, and now I look back and I just wonder how relationships could’ve been different and how my outlook could’ve changed if I had just opened up. I found the study Kate McLean did with the adolescents very interesting. When she interviewed Josie, the 17-year-old, she said her self-defining memory was when her mother had broken her promise to her. This just left me speechless. Her self-defining memory was the moment she decided that the only person she could trust was herself. The end of Beck’s text was about our past and how it shapes the future. This kind of made me mad. The text was saying that you can rewrite the past as you progress forward to your future. You can’t. You will never be able to erase your past, ever. You can change your view on it but you can’t just “rewrite the history” as it says in the text. Although I’m sure some people would love to rewrite their past and start over again, you just can’t do that. The only thing you are in control of is the present and your decisions moving forward. You learn from the past. You can’t rewrite the past.
The point you made about rewritting your past initially did not stand out to me but they way you explained it really makes me thinking about it in a deeper way. You are completely right, we can’t rewrite the past, but we can learn from it. Nicely said!
Hi! I agree with when you talk about rewriting your past. This part did not make me happy either. I believe that you can write about your past but not remake your past. I like how well you understood the essay and how it spread emotions to you. Also, I noticed that you did a lot of goof annotations. Good Job!
Lucy,
I noticed the same thing about Paige’s annotations. Wow! They look fantastic!
Paige, you make some really interesting points in your post! I very much agree with the last idea that you discuss. Perspective can change as we age, but our experiences cannot. We can’t rewrite the past, but we can grow from it. I also liked how you included a more personal perspective in your writing. You talk about how you wonder how life would be different if you opened up about negative aspects of your life. I think this is very interesting and adds to your writing.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Paige. I have to tell you that when I read this: “I have had points in my life where I have had things that I have kept inside and never told anyone. I still haven’t told anyone about some of them, and now I look back and I just wonder how relationships could’ve been different and how my outlook could’ve changed if I had just opened up,” I had to pause and sit in order to let the full impact of your courageous words sink in. Of course, I’ve had similar experiences (keeping things in), but I don’t think I was brave enough to make this explicit connection while reading Beck’s essay. The fact that you did–you acknowledged this potentially uncomfortable truth– is not only brave but inspiring. Great work.