Oh man, that is a compliment! I am going to try very very hard to be worthy of it. (I wish so much I was more prolific; once the holidays have stopped wringing me out, hopefully!)

You know, the older I get, the more I think identity and growing up in general are actually very long, drawn-out processes that we never quite stop re-learning or re-defining--which, basically, just amounts to one huge lifelong growth-spurt where something doesn't fit the way it used to and now your ankles are showing, damn it. I sort of had one of those same moments you describe, and while I'm pretty comfortable with who and where I am, I can't say whether it'll mean the same things to me five years down the road or not.

Basically, I feel this, A LOT. It's hard enough when you're really young, and then it gets all muddled sometimes even after you think you've found your answer! I think, if something doesn't sit with you the way you want, you should question things until you finally find something that fits you just right--even though that can suck mightily in its own way. What fit when you were fifteen may not fit when you're twenty, or thirty, or eighty, after all! But it will get there, absolutely.

And thank you so much, again--I'm really, really thrilled that this hit a note with you in any way; it truly means a lot.