Tuesday, April 5, 2016

D is for Defined


In my forty-something years, I've discovered that it's nearly impossible to move through life without being defined. 

Others define us based on their assessment of us - from their first impressions, from their overall opinions, and from what images come to their minds when they think of us. We define ourselves by similar methods or, as in some instances, by how we truly wish others would see us.

When someone says, "Tell me about yourself," what do you say?

Usually the first thing I tell people is that I'm a native West Virginian. I say that because, to me, being from West Virginian is important.  I wish for people to know how much the state and the experience of growing up there shaped my life and how much it means to me still - 16 years after I left West Virginia.  Case in point, take a moment to look at the text below my picture (to the right).  Even here, on my blog, the first thing I mentioned about myself was being from West Virginia.  The traits listed in my bio are important enough fro me to list and therefore how I obviously describe myself.

Also in my little bio, you see that I mentioned that I'm a Bon Jovi fan.  It's no secret that I am, and have been for most of my life, a loyal and devoted fan of the band that hails from Sayreville, NJ.  Little did I know, however, when I first heard "You Give Love a Bad Name" back in 1986, that part of my identity, of how people would come to define me, would forever include the words Bon and Jovi.  

As I mentioned earlier, I'm forty-something years old.  I graduated high school over 20 years ago and haven't lived in my hometown since the early 90s.  I have friends from junior high and high school that claim when they hear a Bon Jovi song, even to this day - over two decades since we graduated high school, that they instantly think of me, remembering how consumed and crazy I was about Bon Jovi when we were in school.  (To be fair, I was consumed and crazy about them.)  Take a look at this small sampling of posts that various friends have left on my Facebook wall throughout the years:








See what I mean?  

So, regardless of whether I want it or not, being a Bon Jovi fan has been and continues to play a huge part in how people think of me, of how they define me. And, that's okay.  I mean, sure, it gets a little old sometimes, but the fact of the matter is that I AM and HAVE BEEN a fan for a very long time.  It's a undeniable fact and people have a legitimate reason for associating me with Bon Jovi.  And, the way I see it, I'm quite fortunate, for being remembered as a Bon Jovi fan is something very benign.  There are by far and away worse things that I could be associated with.
  
As I said in my post, The Soundtrack of My Life, the song "You Give Love a Bad Name" truly changed my life.  Had that song never existed, had Jon and Richie never penned those catchy lyrics, then a significant piece of my identity would be different.

What's something that has come to define you, whether you wanted it or not?  Thanks for stopping by!


This is the fourth of twenty-six alphabetized blog entries that I'm publishing this month as a part of the 2016 Blogging A to Z Challenge.  Many bloggers who participate in this challenge, select a theme.  My theme is - "Whatever I Think Of."  

For more information on the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, click here.

13 comments:

  1. I love Bon Jovi! I remember an interview with him in the late 80s, where he discussed his hits. He referred to them as simply "Bad Name" and I think "Prayer" and "Hands". I thought that was SO COOL. Wherever coolness is made, he came from there.

    Thanks for sharing, and happy A2Z.

    Erica
    www.ericageraldmason.com

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  2. I don't mind being defined by certain things - my occupation, my hometown, my leisure interests like reading, my musical tastes. But the older I get the more I dislike being defined by what I have. People who have just met me now in my late thirties look at what I have and what I've accomplished in life and make huge assumptions. They know nothing about my childhood or my twenties or what I did to get to where I am. I find that very frustrating.

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    1. I can completely understand that. I don't like being defined by my profession. I am a speech pathologist and that's what I do to pay the bills. Sure, it's a big part of my life, but it's not the only thing. There is so much more to me that what I do Monday through Friday. Thanks for stopping by1

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  3. How neat that you are still in contact with people you went to high school with those many years ago and they still remember the key fact about you and Bon Jovi :) It is so true how we are defined by not only ourselves but by others :)

    betty
    http://viewsfrombenches.blogspot.ca/

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    1. Yes, Facebook has made it very easy for us to stay connected. There were only 92 students in my graduating class and the school enrollment was never more that 430 for 9th-12th grades. Being such a little school, it was easy to know lots of people. Thank you for stopping by!

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  4. this is so awesome that all these people think of you when they think of a bon jovi song. love it. you are right though, we are defined easily. i think it's funny that something defines you when you separate from it - like you moved away from west virginia but it is a part of you. would you say you were a native west virginian if you still lived there? like here, first and foremost, i am australian/a foreigner. it's what everyone knows me as. but in australia? i am normal or not special. it's weird what defines me here does not define me there.

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    1. Interesting question. If I still lived in West Virginia, no, I probably wouldn't specify that I was a native West Virginian, I would just say "I'm a West Virginian." When I did live there, when asked where I lived, I was adamant about specifying that I was from southern West Virginia, because the southern part is rather distinctive in its culture from the other parts of the state, such as the eastern and northern panhandles.

      Good point about what defines you and how it is relative to where you are in the world.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. I agree with the others about the awesomeness of your high school friends remembering you. What a tribute to you as a person! Aside from my love of ghost fiction and ghost movies, I would probably be defined as the hat-wearer. Even in high school I wore a red wool hat I found in a thrift store. Still wearing hats.

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    1. Thank you for the compliment. That is very kind. Thank you for stopping by!

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  6. I get those SAME types of "reminders" posted on my facebook wall. Or in emails. Or text messages. Haha! As I said on twitter, you could replace WV with TX, and it's like you wrote this about me. (oh...and She Don't Know Me was when my life changed for the better because I was introduced to Bon Jovi.)

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    1. LOL! I figured you probably did. You and I are like Bon Jovi twins! My sista in the sisterhood of Bon Jovi!

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  7. Great post! People tend to define me as quiet and shy because I like to read... but then they're always surprised when they get to know me and discover I'm actually really outgoing!

    -Nellwyn | www.thecardinalpress.com

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    1. I completely understand. In new, social situations I am very quiet and I tend to linger on the perimeter so that I can watch and observe. People tend to get the impression that I am shy. Once people get to know me, however, they discover that I'm not shy by any stretch of the imagination and can be quite a talker. Thank you for stopping by!

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