Your own frame of reference

[Valka D'Ur]

Most such points of reference have been personal, principally times I have moved to a new place for a new university or job. The only real external event that has shaped my life was covid, and I refer to before 2020 as "before times". It coincided with a big change in life circumstances as well as the general disruption.

Quite a few people now have "pre-covid" as one of their reference points.

New Horizons probe mission has been "big" connector of life for me - I was still in high school when it launched (2006) and I was 3 (!!!) drops from University and 1 "finished" trade (log builder stuff) school later when first detailed images of Pluto arrived (2015).
Life after that has been much more clear as last "reachable" big mystery was solved - Pluto might not be planet but it has BIG heart

I'd say the eventual trip to Mars and finding out if there's life on any of Jupiter and Saturn's moons are pretty big reachable mysteries.

 

[GenMarshall]

Quite a few people now have "pre-covid" as one of their reference points.

To be honest, that's one of the things that haven't crossed my mind. Though the only thing that effected me was that I had to wear a mask.

 

[Core Imposter]

Jesus said, "Love your enemies".

Or the fuller quote:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

 

[GenMarshall]

Jesus said, "Love your enemies".

Or the fuller quote:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Umm, are you sure you're in the right thread?

 

[EgonSpengler]

Two pretty momentous historical moments during my lifetime that had surprisingly little impact on me were the fall of the Soviet Union and the COVID-19 pandemic. I wasn't very tuned in to world events in the late '80s and early '90s. Ukraine and Palestine are on my mind a lot more now than Eastern Europe was, back then. I even had friends in high school whose families were from Russia and Germany, but the fall of the USSR was less noteworthy to us than the D&D campaign we had going. And I guess I just got lucky getting through the pandemic unscathed.

 

[Core Imposter]

Umm, are you sure you're in the right thread?

I was dead, I am reborn. Lost but found. Blind yet I see. Yeah, that's my frame of reference.

Edit: Let me be not cryptic. When a Christian undergoes a spiritual rejuvenation, it will obviously become a frame of reference for the rest of their life. I read or heard that verse of scripture many times to no effect but on a particular day when I was seeking God, specifically the way of a godly life, I came across that commandment and realized that there was simply no way that I could come even close to loving my enemies. That moment was the end of my resistance. The end of my efforts to be good or Godly or conformed to a standard. I cried out in my mind of the despair of my inability and basically informed God that it was beyond me. He introduced me to grace.

I can't say that I was transformed to a state of perfection, no, not even a little. I wriggled like a worm on a hook for many years. The passions of the flesh are not easily quenched, and the rod of correction became a companion. Yet, no doubt. God changes everything.

 

[GenMarshall]

I was dead, I am reborn. Lost but found. Blind yet I see. Yeah, that's my frame of reference.

Edit: Let me be not cryptic. When a Christian undergoes a spiritual rejuvenation, it will obviously become a frame of reference for the rest of their life. I read or heard that verse of scripture many times to no effect but on a particular day when I was seeking God, specifically the way of a godly life, I came across that commandment and realized that there was simply no way that I could come even close to loving my enemies. That moment was the end of my resistance. The end of my efforts to be good or Godly or conformed to a standard. I cried out in my mind of the despair of my inability and basically informed God that it was beyond me. He introduced me to grace.

I can't say that I was transformed to a state of perfection, no, not even a little. I wriggled like a worm on a hook for many years. The passions of the flesh are not easily quenched, and the rod of correction became a companion. Yet, no doubt. God changes everything.

Yeah, I'm just gonna have to pin it over to Bible Talk, since I have my quips on "God changes everything" and the whole Jesus forgiveness and love enemies bit.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I was dead, I am reborn. Lost but found. Blind yet I see. Yeah, that's my frame of reference.

Edit: Let me be not cryptic. When a Christian undergoes a spiritual rejuvenation, it will obviously become a frame of reference for the rest of their life. I read or heard that verse of scripture many times to no effect but on a particular day when I was seeking God, specifically the way of a godly life, I came across that commandment and realized that there was simply no way that I could come even close to loving my enemies. That moment was the end of my resistance. The end of my efforts to be good or Godly or conformed to a standard. I cried out in my mind of the despair of my inability and basically informed God that it was beyond me. He introduced me to grace.

I can't say that I was transformed to a state of perfection, no, not even a little. I wriggled like a worm on a hook for many years. The passions of the flesh are not easily quenched, and the rod of correction became a companion. Yet, no doubt. God changes everything.

You appear to have missed the point the OP was making.

 

[Angst]

i can't really remember any lifetime events. can remember facts and stuff. but even before covid memory is near wiped.

so before/after covid i guess.

 

[Tee Kay]

I just sort of imperceptibly drift through one stage of life to another.

I do have one 'event' that felt like a threshold, although ironically I don't remember when exactly it was. It was sometime in the middle of 2014, I was in Brisbane, and realised that my life trajectory wouldn't get much lower and it was going to trend upwards from there. It turned out to be a very difficult climb, but it did happen.

 

[JollyRoger]

My life has been stages between these traumatic events:

Conceived during halftime of Super Bowl I
Born in a log cabin I helped my dad build
The Buycentennial
A certain encounter with Kristen Shepard
Coping in a pre-viagra era where the gals were dolled up like the latest version of Madonna and the voice of Steve Perry wailed through the proceedings
My work as a stunt double at the one minute mark of Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" video
That time I felt Alanis Morissette scratch her nails down someone else's back
The publication of the Collected Civ3 Limericks of JollyRoger and Sultan Bhargash
The secret duel with Mobboss that ended up with both of us inadvertently killing our seconds and shooting ourselves in our feet
My job as a pool boy/document planter and Mar-a-Lardo

 

[Birdjaguar]

@JollyRoger What about that episode with Sue Ellen Ewing?

 

[JollyRoger]

Too many to list. It was traumatic having Ginger as my secretary rather than Mary Ann

 

[Kyriakos]

Internet was the big one. 1992-93 for me, a 14400 modem was the first upgrade. Before that I was playing football outside, every day, with neighbouring kids. Lots of people in the neighbourhood - just walked slowly along the promenade, talked to each other, played board games, went to visit each other. Every summer evening the yard was filled with chatter, music. Winter sports in the winter - hockey mostly. And then dad brought me decommissioned IBM 286 from work. The world had changed forever that day. The first game I managed to install and run, after fiddling with an alien thing called Computer for a week, was called Dune. Last I checked, no one is spending time outside in my old neighbourhood anymore. It is not considered appropriate.

Also, 9/11. Before that, airport travel was much more relaxed. There were security checks, obviously, but there were loopholes, negligence in airports small and big could be spotted regularly. Much less security overall. 9/11 reshaped worldwide airports forever. Incidentally, I was flying frequently at the time, so I felt that change and the indignant reaction it was causing in me at times. I also remember a shaky Alitalia flight high above the Alps. Entire airplane filled with Italians was chain-smoking and talking. Something to see! Anyway, every time I have to take my shoes and belt off in a modern airport, take out my devices, have myself scanned by various scanners I remember what was the original reason.

Indeed, the internet brought immense changes. Most of which are positive.
I too recall the first time I had my own computer. I quickly lost interest in going outside (considering it was the infamous piece of trash known as Amstrad CPC6128, that says all - a year later I got the Amiga and was in heaven).

 

[The_J]

I think most differences for me are not that external. I've most each time for studies and job, so that gives very easy breaking points for me.
Also girlfriend. Only public event would be the pandemic, but that's for everyone .

 

[danjuno]

I tend to view the late 2000's and early 2010's as "the good ol' days" and compartmentalize my memory relative to that. Even with the knowledge of the bad memories from that period, I find that time in my life to be the most defining.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Too many to list. It was traumatic having Ginger as my secretary rather than Mary Ann

So first season Dallas, then, when Tina Louise played Julie Grey (as I recall, she was murdered and everyone thought everyone else was guilty).

It's actually a bit scary how I can remember a Dallas storyline from 44 years ago but have trouble remembering what I ate three days ago.

 

[Quintillus]

Thursday, March 12, 2020 for me - the last day of the "before times".

Life was never quite as good after that.

Well, of course that isn't true in the short term, there have been many excellent days and weeks since then. But in the medium/long term - periods of quarters and years - there's a distinct difference, and I prefer the before times. Largely because my career was more enjoyable in its "before times" iteration.

Everyday non-work life is now pretty much back to normal, but the "before times" is still my point of reference for whether something has happened recently or not, and everything from before then feels like a long time ago, even if it was 2019.