Growing up

Although I swore I didn't want to write a single word for at least a month after my 9500 word monster, I have just written about 700 words about my upbringing (and only used the thesaurus once!). Though I procrastinated a lot at first (how many times can you check cuteoverload to see if something new is up?) it was a million times faster than writing my dissertation. It was also really *weird*.

You can't write about your upbringing without in a sense going back to it and experiencing it in some way. And it's a really strange sensation to go back to it when recently I have felt more and more like I am leaving my childhood behind. I'm 22, have just handed in my dissertation, and in a few months I will be graduating University, and if it weren't for the fact that I am planning on doing a Masters, I would be searching for a job and a place to live. Recently I've been worrying about the future of my beloved EUSKC and tonight I spent a couple of hours going over some stuff; it kind of feels like I'm putting my affairs in order, neatening the papers and cleaning up the desk for the next person in line, regretting I couldn't do more to help them. The only thing that would make me feel even older would be if one of my sisters got engaged (but that's not going to happen anytime soon, right?). As it is, Facebook tells me some of my childhood friends are married and some have kids.

And then to go from all of that back to childhood... to writing about school and packed lunches and swim team, birthday parties, orchestra, and mandarin lessons... a life so far removed that I can hardly believe it is *mine*!

Can these two disparate parts of my life ever be reconciled? Is there glue that will fix together separate continents and times, or will I always think of my childhood as something different, something someone else lived?