Music. I used to be passionate about music and had hundreds of cds and songs on the computer. Now, half of the time I’m glad when there’s just silence or a baseball game to listen to in the car.
What things do you find just don’t seem to matter to you the way they once did?
Whether my appearance meets the societal norm. I wasted hours of my youth worrying about the condition and appearance of my fingernails, among other things.
Being cool. I like ABBA and other cheesy Euro-pop non-ironically. I won’t drink PBR, no matter how trendy it gets. That kind of thing.
Looking foolish in public. What the hell do I care, I’m never going to see these people again…
I’m the same way. Unless the kids are with me and ask for music, I almost always have NPR on or nothing. I hardly ever think to bring one of our hundreds of CDs either, unless it’s going to be a long trip.
For me it’s also cooking. I still love the physical process of it, if I’m rested and have time, but I don’t strive to get something interesting on the table every night like I used to. The kids are pretty limited in their tastes still and I often don’t feel like making more than one thing, so we eat a lot of chicken and spaghetti. It used to be a couple of curry dishes, maybe some homemade flatbread and chutney on the side.
Home theater. 6 or 7 years ago, I had a big-screen TV, DVD changer, 5.1 surround sound, amp, preamp, Pronto remote, the whole deal. I quit my job to go freelance but wasn’t great at it, so I just kind of ended up unemployed. I sold it all to pay the bills.
Now I’ve got a great job and could easily get back into the habit, but I’m pretty happy with my standard-definition 27" TV, $30 Wal-Mart DVD player, 3 remotes cluttering the table, and built-in speakers on my TV. 6 years ago I never would have DREAMED I’d be perfectly happy with the built-in speakers.
I hear ya. When I think of all the time I spent trying to get my hair to look a certain way, and all the money I blew on cosmetics that I didn’t really need, I feel sad. I feel even sadder when I look at other women my age (late fifties) who still go through all that “putting on my face” rigmarole, only to end up looking like aging hookers.
I look my age, which is OK. Nobody runs screaming from the room when I walk in. I’m neat and clean and not too far from my ideal weight. My husband is madly in love with me and tells me how pretty I am. I don’t need a lot of goop on my face, and I don’t need the latest hairdo.
Exactly what I came in to say (and if I do see them again, either they like me or they don’t).
I’ll add “collecting things”. I used to collect movie posters, postcards, certain types of books and records- now I have a near desire to sell everything I own and just live as near minimalist as possible.
And the less I care about offending other people. I try not to be a jerk, but I’m a lot less inclined to say “I see your point” when the person just told me why Ramtha says they should buy an assault rifle or some such crap.
Pop culture. I don’t know what’s cool or who’s hot and happening, and I don’t care. I don’t own a tuner, so I don’t listen to the radio for music, and haven’t for years. I’m not a kid anymore, and I have no interest in things that are being marketed to kids. I couldn’t pick, for example, Britney Spears out of a lineup. I don’t know who the current movie stars are…I’ve lost the desire to care. Like John Lennon said, “…I’ve become my parents.”
I’m newly that way about books. I was never a collector looking for rare books, I just kept all the books I ever read and I bought a lot.
Now I offload them and read library books. It’s nice.
I’m that way with television. I used to be a walking TV guide who could tell you what was on every night and what station and now there’s literally not a single show I watch religiously. Since my TIVO has had problems I haven’t even been keeping up with The Daily Show and watch American Idol on YouTube (and yet I live alone in a house with six (6) working TV sets- one of them never watched and two of them in closets).
Watching sport. I was never a huge sports fan, but the older I get the more pointless the idea of watching grown men and women run after a ball or around a track seems. Who gives a shit? I still watch a bit of football (soccer) but even that… it’s the same teams winning things year in year out. Might as well tape one season and just watch it over and over again.
Music was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of your thread. I have a pretty nice collection of LPs and CDs, the vast majority dating from before the year 2000.
Sports. I still pay attention, but I don’t know the rosters and I don’t go terribly far out of my way to attend any games. I can still get excited about a game, but I don’t follow sports like I used to.
That sounds ominous. I hope you’re not ill!
I’m in the same (sinking?) boat as Sampiro and JSGoddess – no more collecting, especially books. They go out almost as fast as they come in. I won’t do to my kids what my mom did to me and my brother – leave a house full of stuff that made us feel guilty for not treasuring it.
Music too, except for all the newly released Johnny Cash recordings.
ETA: Oh, and sex. Sigh.
Please god, this will never happen to me.
Disclosure. I think it is normal for all women–as teenage girls we just HAVE to tell our six best friends about every thing that happens to us and every thought that goes through our heads. It’s exhausting.
I got older, and I got a LiveJournal. Bingo. No need to tell secrets anymore.
Fighting my features. I look a certain way, I’m always going to look a certain way, and that’s it. Trying to make myself different has never worked, so I no longer do it. I cut my hair the way I do because that way I don’t have to fight it. I don’t wear makeup very often because nearly all of it breaks me out or gives me a rash.
I also care less and less about what other people think of me. I’m not yet at the point where I completely don’t care, but I’m getting there.
I’m 30, and I’ve never been that into any of these things. I mean, sure, as a teenager/20-something, I liked music, and I always wished I had more CDs, but it was never something I cared a great deal about–especially keeping up with who everyone else liked, or having the latest CDs from whoever. I bought a couple of CDs whenever I had some extra money (which wasn’t that often–and when I did, I’d spend it more often on a movie ticket or a nice meal out), but it was usually something from a few years back, if not my parents era, or something like Bela Fleck, or even classical.
I’ve frankly never gotten the have-to-be-current-and-know-all-the-latest about anything, whether it’s books, music, movies (though I do like seeing them on the big screen) or (now that they come out on DVDs) TV shows (well, except for a couple). In fact, I almost feel like it’s something I’m missing, like people who don’t get religion (I’m an atheist, but I still “get” it) or art. I feel a bit aimless without some hobby I feel passionate about. And it didn’t make finding a career easy, either. (Job counselor: Well, what do you enjoy doing in your free time? Me: Oh, sleeping, reading the occasional book, watching whatever’s on TV, going for a short walk…)
How many of you folks who used to be more interested in these things have replaced them with other things like family and career, and how many just stopped having interests?
Computers. I peaked at $6500 for a computer about 10 years ago. The only reason I didn’t make coffee on it is because it didn’t have the appropriate peripheral. My latest purchase was a HP that cost $350 and that most people here would give to the dog. It does email and Internet 1.0. Imagine what this one was replacing.
ETA: That $6500 computer was bought with the money I got from selling my Magic: The Gathering cards :eek: . There is one other thing I don’t care much about, anymore.