A Teenager's Plead For Help

[Joij21]

Were his feelings for Beatrice autobiographical? The author didn’t literally go to hell.

Was Dante a real guy? I always thought he was just a character in the book Dante's Inferno. Had no idea he was the author, though nevertheless I would say the Dante in the book would be a characterized version of the author. Therefore the actual fictionalized Dante went to Hell and back.

Is Dante like a pen name kinda like Lemony Snicket?

 

[sophie]

Uhh he quite literally went to Hell and back all while still living.

That's a pretty badass accomplishment so I'm not really sure he died with his passions unrealized.

Dante the character of the Divine Comedy did, but Dante Alighieri, the author was a real person who really existed in history, as (perhaps, evidence is scant), did Beatrice Portinari. Apropos to this context, Dante only met the real Beatrice twice in his life, once as a child, and again in his late teens after both had already married separately. Which is to say, Beatrice isn’t real, she is a fantasy Dante constructed in his mind wholly absent Beatrice herself. And for all the beautiful, flowery prose Dante wrote of his great love and muse Beatrice, Dante ultimately died alone in exile of malaria, without achieving his life’s goal of one day returning to Florence, while Beatrice died at 25, never knowing the beautiful things Dante would write about her.

The point is that Beatrice represents the unpossessable, a creature made of lighter stuff, destined for Paradise, while Dante can only observe, follow, and long for her from a distance. She’s a fantasy, an image he made up in his head. You shouldn’t want to be Dante, the archetype of maidenless behavior. At least Darcy listens and grows and at last succeeds. At least Peter Abelard and Heloïse actually get together at some point.

 

[Joij21]

So try not to stress now, it's still early - you have time.

No it's not, he's in high school. That's over in no time, it's only four years then it's college. Things are only slow when you're still a child, time only goes faster with age unless the heart starts beating more rapidly (which may not necessarily be a good thing when one gets really old).

 

[sophie]

lmao. high school is very early and there’s a horsehockyload of time. Me today at 32 would be totally unrecognizable to me at 12, or even 22. In the last 20 years I’ve done a lot of different things, had friend groups come and go, fudged around hedonistically doing nothing in multiple cities, had a great time acquiring a bunch of mostly useless degrees, learned 5 languages, went deep into debt and dragged myself out of it, picked up a drinking problem and a tobacco addiction and overcame both. I’ve been near-homeless and contributed to a mortgage. I’ve visited 30 states, lived in 3, been to Europe 5 times, changed my name, changed my gender, had three career switches, and two long term romantic relationships (with many more short/medium terms and hookups in between).

Saying “it’s all over after [x age]” is just the excuse of those too cowardly to take a risk and try something new.

 

[Joij21]

How do you possibly get five useless degrees, a bunch of debt, get twords near homelessness, and then pull yourself out of it???

You must come from well off stock or had some nice connections.

with many more short/medium terms and hookups in between

Ok thanks for the very detailed information.

 

[sophie]

Ok thanks for the very detailed information.

 

[sophie]

How do you possibly get five useless degrees, a bunch of debt, get twords near homelessness, and then pull yourself out of it???

You must come from well off stock or had some nice connections.

Two useless degrees. State school for undergrad and a 1/3 waived tuition merit scholarship to a one-year master’s at a private school. Then I got a decent paying job with benefits and lived like a hermit in a run-down apartment with low rent, and then I got a good-paying job with benefits.

I was lucky enough have parents that were able to front me just enough money to keep just afloat enough to not starve and not get evicted, but I by no means come from wealth, and at the time I started digging myself out of the hole I was 6-months behind on rent, with a maxed out credit card in collections, unpaid student loans on the verge of going to collections, one bank account closed due to prolonged delinquency, and another with a negative balance.

Like I said, 10 years is a loooong time. Enough to dig yourself into holes and dig yourself back out

 

[Farm Boy]

It's a long time in the sense that when push comes to shove, it takes about 3 to 7 seconds to make any given decision, including the most important ones. As it comes down to the moments.

But three and a half thousand days is also almost no time at all. Especially the relationships for which no amount of time will ever be enough.

 

[Narz]

It's never too early to start forming good habits. If you f-around in your teens & twenties it creates bad momentum. I wish I'd been more focused when I was younger & realized that, while that time seemed long, it actually goes pretty quick.

 

[Joij21]

I was lucky enough have parents that were able to front me just enough money to keep just afloat

Ok makes sense. He's got only one parent though.

Like I said, 10 years is a loooong time. Enough to dig yourself into holes and dig yourself back out

Except @innonimatu was referring to the time it takes from going from high school to undergrad. That's only 4 years, 4 years to get good grades and accepted to a decent school. Ain't no time to dilly dally like he was suggesting.

 

[Edmund Ironside]

In the last 20 years I’ve done a lot of different things, had friend groups come and go, fudged around hedonistically doing nothing in multiple cities, had a great time acquiring a bunch of mostly useless degrees, learned 5 languages, went deep into debt and dragged myself out of it, picked up a drinking problem and a tobacco addiction and overcame both. I’ve been near-homeless and contributed to a mortgage. I’ve visited 30 states, lived in 3, been to Europe 5 times, changed my name, changed my gender, had three career switches, and two long term romantic relationships (with many more short/medium terms and hookups in between).

This sounds like something which would make a good plot for a TV show, though it might attract a petition or 2 for it to be cancelled!

 

[Caesar of Bread]

lmao. high school is very early and there’s a horsehockyload of time. Me today at 32 would be totally unrecognizable to me at 12, or even 22. In the last 20 years I’ve done a lot of different things, had friend groups come and go, fudged around hedonistically doing nothing in multiple cities, had a great time acquiring a bunch of mostly useless degrees, learned 5 languages, went deep into debt and dragged myself out of it, picked up a drinking problem and a tobacco addiction and overcame both. I’ve been near-homeless and contributed to a mortgage. I’ve visited 30 states, lived in 3, been to Europe 5 times, changed my name, changed my gender, had three career switches, and two long term romantic relationships (with many more short/medium terms and hookups in between).

Dang, that must have been a crazy life.



At track practice a jock pushed me onto one of my former friend's back, and the former friend got mad at me and called me a "f******"

 

[Farm Boy]

Next time, accidentally step on his foot in your race spikes.

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