Forever a Product of Your Enviornment

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink][b]Do you think you will forever be a product of the enviornment you've grown up in?[/b]

Some people rise out of poverty and into great wealth, but they still had a rough life that can forever skew their outlook on life.

Still others grow up in the South, and maybe some of them really can't wait to leave but their rich culture is always going to be a part of them, no matter how much they may dislike that fact.

I grew up in Michigan. Upon flying back to the Midwest today after being in California for almost a year, I realize that I'll forever have a piece of Michigan with me, no matter how much I truely despise this state. I seemingly can't deny the Midwestern values and friendliness that I grew up with...places outside of the Midwest [such as the East Coast] often times come off as callous and cool [frosty].

Is it ever ok to deny one's past and move on to a new future and never look back? Or is that an unhealthy route down denial lane?

I'd love to hear personal stories and opinions on this :whoops:[/color]

[Lady Macaiodh]

[color=darkblue][size=1]I'll probably have to add more to this tomorrow, seeing as how I'm zombified at the moment. It will most likely make no sense.

Practically everyone has a bit of nostalgia about their hometown, even if they hate the place. There's always something unique about it. Even though I pretty much hate my hometown, I still miss it when I'm away and don't know why.

I don't think it's very much different than other experiences or memories. Whether they're good ones or bad, you have to take what you can from them & move on.

Denying one's past? That's a funny expression. It sounds too much like sweeping it under the rug, pretending it never happened. Go onto a new future, yeah. But be sure to let yourself look back every once in awhile. If you forget it all, you're basically a blank slate again, and the personality of Jenna would not exist. Your subconcious remembers, whether you want it to or not.

Maybe I'm taking your post wrong. But you make it sound like you'd be content never thinking about Michigan again.

Heh, I wish a lot of times that I could give myself amnesia and forget the past two years (well, the parts that had to do with Mike). But then I'd probably make the same kind of dumb mistake again. [/color][/size]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]Sometime, somewhere.

When i'm under stress, or just having hard times, i'll know that because of my first 8 years of life, and the environment I was in, i've tackled worse problems.

But I can say that i've inherited several traits from the situations i've grown up in, and still are. My family was was, and is, supereligious- The teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses [all based on their bibles] was ground into me. Kindness, Self-sacrifice, etc. Growing up in this family has really pushed me to be independent and anti-organized religion, but the teachings of the bible were etched into my mind so hard I come off as a Happy Goth.

Just little things like that will most likely continue to fuel that 'Ken' essence that I adore makeing, lol.

I was alone alot as a kid, so I used to imagine constantly. I'd create whole worlds where I was a God or Hero, even a Mastermind Villian sometimes. That changed slowly overtime into roleplaying and fantasy writing, acting. Things based off creativity, even if I am extreme in that regard.

I could list tons of little scenarios that lead to how I am today in alot of respects.

I guess i'm trying to respect where I grew up intially, and this environment i'm in now no matter how black it was, or how much I want to hate it- I respect it because it opened up alot of paths for me that I enjoy, risks to be taken, ideas to be thought. I do prefer that more than just growing up in suburbia for the whole time in a dreary town in the middle of Montana, or something equally inane.[/color]

[Shinken]

Your environment has an effect on your life; that's for sure. And, in my opinion, you have an effect on your environment (I don't just mean the old, beaten-down topic of people killing/helping the world, I mean your social environment). My environment has definitely had an influence in my being, and it's mostly for the better. When I have to leave my home, I know that everything I've learned there will stick with me, no matter who, what, or where I am. It's just a part of you. You can't deny your past, and your past won't deny you.

[Queen Asuka]

[color=hotpink][size=1]WELL, this is definately an interesting topic. Yes, I have endured many things and the environment I've been raised in has definately made me the person I am today.

Throughout all of my childhood, I've seen my parents do lots of things. And instead of hating them because they did it, I hate the act and not them. And so therefore, I have developed this hatred of many things such as smoking cigarettes, drinking, fighting, cussing, and many other things that make me look like I'm self-righteous. I can't help it that I hate these things. It's just that I've been around it all my life and I want to get away from it.

I am about to move away from home and I am scared. I LOVE my family so much and I don't know what I'm going to do on my own. I am only going to live 2 hours away, so that is a big relief. And I hope that everything I ever learned and everything that made Tori well, TORI, will stick with me and I wont be easily lured away from my values or snared while I'm at college at UGA, one of the biggest party schools ever.[/color][/size]

[Skyrose]

No matter how drastically I've changed over these 16 years, I find that the old values and thoughts I've inscribed in my mind when I was a child never change. It's the things you learn and are given in the first few years of your life that just seem to make up who you are on the deepest level.

And no matter how hard I try, I can't change any of it -.-

[Avatarofkaine]

Well I guess my town probably has helped shape me, I think it would have to have, but I actually find it difficult to see exactly how. Now my town, actually I think I will stick with my area, my town is pretty much all over the shop.

My area is prolly middle class in most aspects, and yet I've spent many an afternoon watching police load a Pan-Tec truck with stolen goods from one of the government houseing places that are springing up all over the shop. There is one house down the street from me with a bed of large pebbles outside each and every entrance. This I'm quite convinced is so the owners can hear if anyone approaches the house.

One of my friends has taken to on occasion carrying a knife around do to the fact that his Mauri descent has made him a target of a black gang that used to have a rather strong presence in the area, they have however moved on for the most part. The thing is anyone just driving past has no idea what the area would be like, to all observations it looks like the sort of neighbourhood where everyone gets out on a sunday morning and waves to each other as they mow the lawn.

As for how growing up in this environment has shaped me I have no idea, possibly I cant decide because I have never lived anywhere else.
I am though moving in the next few months, so possibly that experience may enlighten me somewhat.

To explain the kind of person I am would take wayyy to much time, I'm pretty "twisted" might be one way to put it, and so yea I dont even know what anyone is going to get out of my post but yea. lol

Really typed alot to get nowhere didnt I?

[Boba Fett]

[COLOR=green]Leave it to BabyGirl to come up with an interesting topic like this...

I agree that the environment you "grow up" in has a definite impact on you that, whether you like it or not, will remain with you for the rest of your life.

However, what happens if you move around a lot during your childhood, and never really have a town, state, or even country to call home? Will this frequent transition affect you by giving you bits and pieces of each area you come into contact with, or does it create a new environment entirely? I have yet to figure this out...

I have found that moving around frequently didn?t really have a large effect on me, which I can remember, until I moved back to the US from Australia at the end of fifth grade. Ever since, moves have become harder and harder due to my increasing maturity and deepening of relationships with other people.

I just moved back to Connecticut from the New Hampshire/Maine border three days ago, and that was my hardest move yet. I had a lot of friends and loved the area. It was very hard to leave.

I think that my environment of constant change has shaped my values, worldview and personality in ore ways than I can count. This has definitely made me who I am, and will be with me for the rest of my life.

So you're right BabyGirl. I definitely agree with you that your environment shapes you, with or without your consent.

Another thing. Please excuse any errors in this post, since I am writing from a very annoying laptop with really small keys? [/COLOR]

[James]

[color=#884667]There is no question that your environment affects who you are to a great extent. Sure, certain aspects of our personality are "hard-wired" (like our sexuality, or maybe our general temperament...etc etc). I'm sure there are things within us that no outside influences can change, no matter what.

But our political beliefs, religion and so on are often parts of us that are a direct result of our upbringing, in my opinion.

From my point of view...I was brought up by very open-minded parents. Two tolerant people. People who never instilled a particular religious or political belief system in me at any point. My parents always told me that it was my decision. So for instance, my grandparents (on my father's side) are deeply religious people. And if a question ever came up (me asking my parents about that), they would never say "No that's wrong" or "Yes that's right". They would always encourage me to follow my own line of thought...to make my own conclusions about things.

And as an adult, that is one thing that I appreciate more than anything. I think it's an experience that has helped to free my mind, so to speak. It has allowed me to think objectively, more than anything else.

But that's the influence of my parents. In terms of my environment? It's hard to say.

Australia is a pretty friendly and tolerance place, generally speaking. And I don't think that there is a huge variance from city to country, or state to state. Really, there are minor differences. But from my point of view, having lived in different parts of this state, I don't think I've ever encountered significantly different influences on my life.

So it's hard to say. If I dropped everything today and moved to the United States, I'm sure that I would [i]always[/i] maintain a deep love and affection for my birthplace. But I'm sure that's no different for anyone else, regardless of where they come from.

Still, I don't necessarily feel that your "national identity" is what shapes you entirely. It's your day-to-day experiences...and most importantly, your family, that influences you as a human being. [/color]

[Justin]

Eh, I'll always be saturated in Alabama. Which, by the way, does not mean I fornicate with my cousins or own a pair of stone washed jeans.

There's really no escaping the fact. It's not exactly easy to change everything you know. Believe me because, in a certain sense, I've done that before.

I'll probably always have my accent, and my general dialect. Just the general stuff. I assume that's what you're talking about.

-Justin