Comments on: Friday Edition: Who would you be if you were freed from your past?

By: Lisa M.

Lisa M. — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:21:18 +0000

There’s the risk, that without my past, I’d be a dull.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:17:04 +0000

I started wondering about the angel coming and giving me what I want — and realized I’m not quite ready to want it. Not quite ready to let go of the old fears. Really wanting it, and accepting it, means letting go of old comforts — fears that I can hide behind, but yet also make me comfortable to friends and family. Letting go of those fears may mean they won’t want me — or I might not want them. It means letting go of a way of life I’m only ready to shed one transluscent layer at a time.

By: LaKecia

LaKecia — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:29:28 +0000

I totally agree with you.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:42:33 +0000

i would feel safer and trust others more. i would assume they were showing me the whole story and that they valued my relationship just like they seemed to. i would allow more connection with people and would need them to jump through fewer hoops before i could relax and enjoy their company. i’d be less afraid that there was something else going on behind the scenes.

By: Ngonzi Truth Crushshon

Ngonzi Truth Crushshon — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:45:39 +0000

If I were freed from my past I’d be…..A travel agent, less stressed, more financially savvy-an investment broker, I’d own a business RIGHT NOW and not wait to later…I’d buy a piece of property and start a community center/afterschool center for youth in Englewood. I would elope and get married.

By: Connie

Connie — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:05:33 +0000

I love this question. I’ve been thinking about it for over a day now. I might be a UN translator, what I hoped to be in college. OR, I might be a fashion illustrator OR I might be a poet OR I might be a publisher or an agent. I’ve dabbled in all these fields but have been a mom of three and married 2 1/2 times. Thanks for helping my mind soar!!

By: Angela

Angela — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:39:54 +0000

I don’t know who I’d be (hopefully a better me), but I’d like to shed the baggage and trauma of Jr. High and High School. But I’m too chicken to figure out what that is so I can lose it.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:13:49 +0000

This is not my song – it’s Kelly Clarkson’s (co-written.)
and…I assume…the beginning of the healing process.
Allowing ourselves to re-feel, to know and then let go – that’s what I’m hoping for.
c

I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did
You fell so hard
I’ve learned the hard way, to never let it get that far

Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don’t get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid

I lose my way
And it’s not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that’s weakness in your eyes
I’m forced to fake, a smile, a laugh
Every day of my life
My heart can’t possibly break
When it wasn’t even whole to start with

I watched you die
I heard you cry
Every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry
In the middle of the night
For the same damn thing

Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don’t get hurt
Because of you
I tried my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don’t know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I’m ashamed of my life because it’s empty
Because of you
I am afraid

Because of you
Because of you

By: Andrea Devis

Andrea Devis — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:21:06 +0000

I would have the same essence I have now. If I were to be freed from my past I would be just that. Free, Liberated, Unburdened of the things I have seen and experienced. Granted every ground needs rain (bad experiences) or it becomes a desert (too much sunshine or good experiences), not every experience someone has shapes who they are in a positive way, sometimes it can warp what was already well shaped. Being happy with the woman who is beginning to take shape (Thanks Carrie & Danielle) I am able to hold on to my essence and free myself of the past and let it go.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:17:51 +0000

I would …

… not compare myself to others, but instead rejoice in other’s talents and success and learning from them, would improve myself. I would always have something genuinely nice to say about everyone I come in contact with and I would not ever gossip about or judge others.

… trust my instincts.

… be quick to forgive.

… be more joyful.