A New monster is just waiting for you. By the time we are pre-teens, our belief in monsters has passed. At least, our childhood perceptions of monsters has changed. There is a new monster to conquer now. More than likely, when we are open to defining our new monsters, we will experience a new monster for the rest of our lives.
A New Monster Transition
Isn’t it fun to go down memory lane and remember the moments in your childhood that frightened the bejesus out of you? Yes, well, eventually we mature beyond the legends and ghost stories that had our blood rush to our feet and faces go pale. Instead, there are new monsters invading our psyches.
Crushing New Monster
Something happens when you hit pre-teen years. Puberty hasn’t hit full-swing but it has started to leave signs of an early spring, so to speak. Bodies start to change. Pre-teens need to shower a little more frequently even if they still deny a need for hygiene. Hair becomes a little greasier. Faces become a little oilier. Feet and armpits smell a little more. Such an exciting time!
. Something else begins to occur. Awareness. Trust me, this is not an awareness of their hygiene! Certainly not an awareness of their cleaning habits. This is a time when pre-teens start to become aware of their sexual attractions. This crushing new monster makes the blood rush to their cheeks. Mention a few names back to your pre-teen sometime during dinner. Repeat the names you have heard your teen mention. Just ask how so-and-so is doing? You will know when you get to the “right one”! (Article involving pre-teens available. Read now!)
My Childhood
All growing up I had been a relatively good kid. I was shy. It has been told I had moments of being stubborn and expressed my attitude, but in the end, I did what I was told. When I was told to clean my room, I would stomp on the floor every time I picked something up off the floor. If I was told to hurry up and get dressed, I would take my time. If the routine was both socks on, then shoes, well…I would put on one sock, one shoe, repeat! You get the idea. Some people have the opinion I am still that way. Ha, never! What do they know!?
I didn’t break things or cheat. Nor did I steal. Well, okay, I stole stationary and some fingernail polish once. Mom found it and marched me back to the store where I had to confess. That was the last time I ever did that! I don’t remember having stolen anything prior to that but now I figure if I was brave enough to take stationary and fingernail polish, I must have stolen candies or something somewhere before that incident. Nowadays, if a cashier misses something in my cart, I will turn around and go back to the store to let them know it was missed and I need to pay. Same if I was given a lower price when I shouldn’t. Karma comes back man. Karma!!!
The Parental New Monster
Anyway, as I developed from pre-teen to teenager, all parents became monsters. I remember the Parental New Monster very well. The same parents who used to cuddle you and think you were sweet. Right, give me a break! All they want to do is ground teenagers, make their lives miserable. I had to wait until I was 15 years old to get my own phone line in my bedroom. Then they would ground me from that and take the phone out of the room all because I got a stupid F on a test. It was a dumb test anyway. The class was so boring, it sucked! Who needed to even know that stuff. It’s not like I would ever be using geometry or writing essays when I became an adult working at my J-O-B! (I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Interior Architecture and am now doing Performance Blogging – hmmm, just sayin’)!
The Parental New Monster set ground rules about curfews. Rules about driving the car. There were stipulations to any money request. No closed doors while members of the opposite sex were visiting. I had to provide phone numbers for my friend’s parents and sleepovers were approved upon after our parents could confirm our plan.
The Authority New Monster
Battling the parents was a given. But as a teenager I needed to express my disdain for being told what to do beyond just the closed doors at home. I became abrupt and rude to teacher figures. Scoffing and laughing at adults within earshot as much as possible. It was important they understand clearly, I was much smarter than them. I was practically an adult and 18 is just a number that makes you a legal adult. Fortunately, there was still enough of that good kid common sense in me that I didn’t push my attitude over the boundary causing me irreversible damage.
The Adulting New Monster
Off to College, finally. I struggled. The first attempt I didn’t go to class and didn’t do the homework. Second attempt, I went to class but didn’t do the work. Third time was almost a charm. I went to class and did the work. Until I realized I didn’t know what I wanted to study. I had no clue who or what I wanted to be in this life.
Luckily, I had time to figure out my path in life. Meanwhile, I decided my best course of action would be to work on completing all or as many of the core requirements as possible. One of these classes was an English class. I don’t remember my Professor’s name momentarily, but she did ask us to call her by her first name, Jennifer. It was a summer course. I was cramming credits. We did all sorts of different types of essay writing.
The Assignment
Jennifer was great. She had a way of engaging the whole class in conversation. One day she asked about our favorite books. What did we like about them? Why did we decide to read the book? What made read past the first page and finish the book? Then she began to explain what it means to write a “Narrative Essay”. In short, write a story and utilize research about your topic to give the story more validity making it a more believable story coming from a personal perspective and voice.
A Life-Changing Essay About a New Monster
. I racked my brain for a couple of days trying to come up with ideas. But truly I struggled. I love books such as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe series by C.S. Lewis. However, I am confident Narnia is an imaginative land created for that book series. I recognized that back then as well. Then it dawned on me, Bigfoot. I could relay my experience of hearing my uncle tell me the story of Bigfoot and I knew there was supposedly a Bigfoot caught on film. I know now that film is called the Patterson-Gimlin film.
It’s not exactly a New Monster for me but I see Bigfoot in a totally different perspective now. I had the time of my life doing research. My family got involved helping me research. I was so proud of what I learned and the essay I wrote I took it camping to tell my younger cousins about Bigfoot! I had the research documented! From then on, I have been a Bigfoot Believer. A lot has happened over the years surrounding the topic of Bigfoot. Quite a bit of new compelling reasons for believing. Definitely, there is more information than was available for my research and narrative essay written back in June 1997.
Next Article: In Search of Sasquatch – 1997 #5
Where Finding Bigfoot Went Wrong #6
Sister Sasquatch – A Religion #1
Monster: Becoming a Sasquatch Believer #2
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