Douglas Coupland's 'Miss Wyoming' (Miss Wyoming - Douglas Coupland)

Name: Robin Ann Johnson

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Product:	Miss Wyoming - Douglas Coupland
Date:	02/03/08 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick Read

Disadvantages: Left me pondering see: http://jumpupjumpdown.blo gspot.com/

I spent this Sunday afternoon being lazy and finishing Douglas Coupland's 'Miss Wyoming'. As the story played out and about 50 pages to it's conclusion a passage about life struck me,

".... when you grow up these days, you're told you're going to have four or five different careers during your lifetime. But what they don't tell you is that you're also going to be four or five different people along the way. In five years I won't be me anymore. I'll be some new [person] .... Probably wiser and more corrupt....using words like 'cassoulet' or 'sublime.' ... I have to do [things] now---act quickly, I mean---because the current version of me is ebbing away. We're all ebbing away. All of us. I'm already looking backward. I'm already looking back at that [person] that's saying these words."


After finishing the book, I was pulled back to this passage reading it over again ...understanding the meaning even more clearly than the first time. Realizing that at almost 35 years old, I have had the four or five different careers already. The person I am today is COMPLETELY not the person I was just five months ago --- especially pre-Lap Band.

How does one 'mark' that time and place when they do become someone different. Is it a matter of getting better with time? ... or is it life's experiences that change us into someone different?

The passage has left me wondering what happens when we have already been 'five different people along the way'? ... and how do others my age track the moments in their lives when they became someone different, when did they realize it? ... did others notice? ... do they see themselves as a better person for the change ... or worse? ... are there ceremonies or announcements to send?

I hope others will feel comfortable sharing their thoughts on Coupland's passage. ...and if they also have some of the same questions or do they have the answers?

Summary: "I'm already looking back at that [person] that's saying these words."