One of the best parts of getting older is no longer being younger. There's insight, but with all that comes the "Oh God, did I really say/wear/do/write that?" realizations. These are the things that literally make you cringe-- nose wrinkled and shoulders drawn up to ears. Perhaps a shudder or two.
Some of the worst of it is that seductive pull to try to create yourself by cobbling together pieces of other people. And it's made all the more tempting with the lure of the internet. BLOGS!
It's painfully transparent, in the way that makes other people cringe FOR you. (You know, as opposed to your true friends, who will cringe WITH you.)
I'd love to say I've never been there, but alas: LiveJournal, thecobrasnake.com, the years 2003-2006.
Hell, I'm embarrassed by stuff from when I was 25. And 26. And 27. A message from the future: and 31 - 43!
But the turning point around quarter life was learning that imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery. It comes across as cloying and disingenuous. Authenticity is key.
Anything else will have people wrinkling their noses and thinking "Oh God" about the things you're doing... years before you've earned your God-given right to do it for yourself.
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