This weekend at SLKP Conference, someone described me as an old soul. I'm not sure really as to the veracity of that claim, but I can certainly identify with the idea behind it. I don't really fit Generation Y or even Generation X (seeing as my birthday is near enough to the start of Generation Y and all, given the Generation labels), mind you, I don't imagine anyone really fits a Generational description to a T to put it mildly, but this got me thinking.
The reason I was thinking about generations was because of a session at the conference that we CKI administrators took part in, learning about the general traits of all the different generations in the room, plus generation Z (and the oldest members of generation Z are in 12th grade essentially), along with brainstorming what events shaped the time frame in which these individuals were born.
Growing up, it was often said that I was born in the wrong generation. And while I wouldn't give up my life for the world, I can understand why this was said, if you consider my taste in music at that time in my life, my love for old-fashioned technologies, letter writing, books, etc., and well, more recently my knack of being able to spend a considerable amount of time with those who are decades my senior in chronological age.
I really wonder how this pigeon-holing myself as not of this generation in tendencies and habits has shaped my worldview. I also wonder how I really would have gotten on had I been born in a different generation. Sure I might be close to people in age, but I certainly do not find myself all that similar to those I advise in CKI for example, when it comes to those typifying generational traits, and yet, I was born into the same generation.
Perhaps these are just superficial thoughts… but I wonder at the fact that I often exhibit behaviours common in the silent generation and also whether labels I have dealt with for so many years has had a significant impact on my life and my behaviour. Right now, I am realizing for the first time in a long time, that I really truly need to go through some major self-improvement, and change.
And I wonder what being an old soul might have to do with all of it. There is so much to think about.