You are unique

iluvcats

What key life experiences have shaped who you are and make you unique?

he still stands

I am a "farm boy" who is now an anarchist (not in practice... of course) with an MBA, I play the ukulele, work in Accounts Receivable and personally have collections companies on my ass.

"idiosyncracies"

neilybabes86

i heard jeremy in 91

Yellow Ledbelly

I spent much of my childhood fighting horrible headaches and sickness which resulted in me having multiple surgeries...3 or 4....up until the eighth grade when my parents finally found a group of doctors who knew what the hell was up. My problems came from a birth mishap and the initial surgery resulted in the nerves in my right eye being damaged which left me virtually blind in that eye.

I suppose I was picked on somewhat during school early on, but I guess I was one of the 'cool kids'. However, those experiences and having lived with so much pain for so long I feel made me more understanding and sympathetic towards the 'outcasts' and those who were picked on and ridiculed. I'm the guy who always went out of his way to make everybody feel like they mattered and took time to get to know everyone given the opportunity.

I'm just saying, I feel that having had such a hard time as a youth made me into not only a more caring kid but also a more caring and considerate adult. Hell, it toughened me up too....you won't hear me whining about a cold or a stomach virus...that's for sure

CantKeepMeHere

I was 5 years old and my best friend who was also my cousin Brad died at age 4 and 1/2 from cancer- When I think back on it we weren't kids, we were little adults already
My mom comes from a family of 8 - i was the first grandchild and Brad was the second
He was more like a brother cause I was born in December and he was born in May
The notion that we are all just visiting, just breaking like waves was solidified in my mind at a real young age
I knew something was wrong when he began loosing hair
When the family tried to explain it too me I just lost me shit and started breaking things (toys, bedroom...)
20 tearyeyed adults just stood there and let me - I know now how wise they were for allowing me that
I remember not crying when he passed because I wasn't SAD - I was so bumbed that he was gone but the conversations we had in the dark as little kids made me know he was now without suffering
Live Life
Love Life
Be Love
Be Alive
Always, always be alive

sleep to dream

I like vegemite and honey toast

Sian-of-the-dead

The things that have made me unique:

~ My twin brother was born after me and not breathing in 1984. As a result of this he has several disabilities that shaped mine, his and our older brother's childhood.

~ My parents said they were going to divorce in 1994... they got back together again.

~ 2000: My Dad had a horrendous cycling accident that nearly killed him. (This let to his early retirement in 2005)

~ I moved out of my parents home in 2001 without telling them. As a result I didn't speak to my Dad for over 2 years. I moved in with my then boyfriend in a completely different city.

~ I started to talk to my Dad again and it made us closer than ever.

~ In 2005 I started Weightwatchers.

~ In 2006 I joined the Message Pit.

~ My boyfriend of 6 years fell in love with another woman and saw her behind my back. I gave him a second chance but it didn't work and I ended it in 2007. He now has a beautiful son with her and they are due to get married. They're my best friends.

~ 2007: I went to my first PJ fans meet up. I met audiodave for the first time.

~ In Jan 2008 I moved in with some friends. I also made a huge mistake on the opposite sex front, got used and learnt a lesson.

~ Feb 2008: Got together with audiodave after I realised I should stop fighting it and just fall for him like he'd fallen for me. My parents and brothers loved him and were happy to see me finally settled.

~ Jan 2009: Moved in with audiodave and got two gorgeous little kittyboys named Sykes and Riley.

~ August 2009: My Dad passed away suddenly of a heart attack aged 55. I lost my best friend that day.

~ Today: Total weight loss - 104lb. Happy as a pig in shit can be. Got great friends and have learnt several life lessons along the way. More in love with Dave than ever and looking forward to our future together...

and the Summer Euro tour

iluvcats

you all certainly have had life changing experiences.

I don't know how to answer the question I have been asked in my original post. I have to share my experiences before people at work that I don't know for a class next week. The unique question will be our discussion next week. I feel more comfortable telling you all things anonymously than I do telling them. What we say is not allowed to leave the class.

It's funny that one person mentioned pearl jam because I feel that they too changed my life. Not sure I could never tell ppl at work that...

eyedclaar

I know I've mentioned this ad naseum, but it was a recent staredown with a pissed off, giant mountain goat that really got me back into writing. As I was being swarmed by its herd, I had the euphoric realization that is what my life is supposed to be about. Since then, I quit the band I was singing in and have spent almost every chance I get in the hills tracking animals and whatnot. I always did that stuff a lot in the past, but now I'm a full blown junkie.

Jearlpam0925

UNIQUE NEW YORK. UNIQUE NEW YORK.

THE HUMAN TORCH WAS DENIED A BANK LOAN.

Yellow Ledbelly

I'll add part two to mine.....

I came to a point in my life when I became very cynical about life and especially love in general and for a while I pretty much withdrew from everyone in a way. Finally, and quite by chance, I met a wonderful girl who at the time was just 18 and I was 27. We spent an entire summer just talking and hanging out, getting to know each other and talking about everything under the sun. That girl, who I am so privileged to call my best friend to this day, snapped me out of my cynicism and made me love again, feel like I was worthy of being loved and have a whole new outlook on life.
I truly don't know what my life would be like now if I had never started up that first conversation with her and I don't want to know either. Her love and friendship has been a gift to me like no other

chadwick

my bones feel like this guy's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYGGCVE2lKY

car wrecks, motorcycle accidents, playing hard, and kickin ass.
that's me.

Claireack

Gosh, everything has made me who I am. Lots of troubles, lots of joy. The big old rollercoaster of life.

Black Diamond

Not really.

decides2dream

Black Diamond wrote:

Not really.

you are unique, just like every other person.



i forget who said it, but i like it. too true. we're all unique little snowflakes, like the billions of others.....so yea, not too special in the scheme of things. hahaha.

i think, no matter what your life is...no matter how dull or thrilling, whatever....of course it is unique, b/c it is YOUR personal experience and perspective, and NO one else in the world, no matter how similar, thinks and experiences and feels exactly as you do. thus just one part of why i find people and their stories so damned interesting and fascinating...

dimitrispearljam

im unique!!!im a magician.. i can have sex and then i can dissapear!!!!!

iluvcats

dimitrispearljam wrote:

im unique!!!im a magician.. i can have sex and then i can dissapear!!!!!

be serious, please

I need help on what you guys think that I can share with people at work regarding this subject. When I got the email about our upcoming discussion, I found it to be nosey! I vented to someone who had the class before and she said it is to be provocative.

dimitrispearljam

iluvcats wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

im unique!!!im a magician.. i can have sex and then i can dissapear!!!!!

be serious, please

I need help on what you guys think that I can share with people at work regarding this subject. When I got the email about our upcoming discussion, I found it to be nosey! I vented to someone who had the class before and she said it is to be provocative.

got u..ill come back!!!!!

pandora

iluvcats wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

im unique!!!im a magician.. i can have sex and then i can dissapear!!!!!

be serious, please

I need help on what you guys think that I can share with people at work regarding this subject. When I got the email about our upcoming discussion, I found it to be nosey! I vented to someone who had the class before and she said it is to be provocative.

ah stimulating- well don't get too personal keep it positive the workplace is no place for your secrets
just jot down your best qualities and how/when you think you got them in one sentence. The word unique kind of throws a person cause a lot of us don't think we are so special that might be an auto reaction. And some of us find who were are to have come to some degree from the negative and that we would rather not share at work.

iluvcats

thank you pandora (because I do want to keep it positive)

Nothingman54

i play 8 instruments. write songs, poems. im a stay at home dad and love every second of it.

iluvcats

Nothingman54 wrote:

i play 8 instruments. write songs, poems. im a stay at home dad and love every second of it.

thanks, do you think you completely answered the question? what inspired you to learn the instruments?

_

iluvcats wrote:

What key life experiences have shaped who you are and make you unique?

It seems to me that just because something has shaped who you are does not mean it makes you unique, and vice versa.

For instance, I know that moving from the South to an Indian reservation out west in high school has shaped who I am. Various hardships in my life have shaped who I am. Having a twin has shaped who I am. But none of those things makes me unique.

We've had to do a similar getting-to-know-you exercise at work where we think of unique things about ourselves that we think no one else in the room can say about themselves. I can recite the entire Love Song of J Alfred Proofrock. My hair is down to my knees. I once toured DC in a car on the back of a tow truck. But none of those things has shaped who I am.

This reminds me of a song: "I want to be different... just like all the other different people."

adropinthepark

I don't have a uvula.

The Juggler

i have a clone.

brother123

I have thumbs

adropinthepark

decides2dream wrote:

you are unique, just like every other person.



i forget who said it, but i like it. too true. we're all unique little snowflakes, like the billions of others.....so yea, not too special in the scheme of things. hahaha.

I've always liked that too.

iluvcats

I don't think I'm unique. I like the snowflake pic!

I wanted help with how to respond to this nosey stuff on tuesday. I think it's a part of keeping track of potential threats at work.

yellowled24

I've been living with depression for over half my life...and will continue to live with it til the day I die.

With this disease, all of lifes challenges have been harder for me to cope with, and because of this I only have a relatively small, close group of friends...which makes my relationships in life have alot more quality, than if I had a larger group of friends.

I've also moved house over 17 times, so have good adaptation skills

Who Princess

The things about me that seem to impress other people aren't things that I consider remarkable at all. Maybe if you look at it from that perspective, you can think of something to talk about next week.

I've had something like this come up on the job 2 different times. Both of them were several years ago, at separate jobs. The first was at a staff retreat when we had to give an example of something we'd accomplished that we were particularly proud of. I was very surprised at some of the examples people gave. I talked about all the work that went into earning my master's degree. That isn't the example I'd use now, but it was a good one at the time and personal without being too personal.

The other time was at a different job, also on a staff retreat. We were asked to tell something about ourselves that others didn't know about us and to make it as personal as possible. Even though everything was supposed to be confidential, I still thought it was a bit intrusive. I also learned things about my coworkers that I really didn't want to know! :oops: This was sprung on us about 10 minutes before we had to talk about it. At least you have some time to think about what you want to say.

markin ball

The Jeagler wrote:

i have a clone.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.