I’ve Time-Traveled to the 90’s and I’m Not Coming Back!
I started doing The Artist’s Way again. It’s a fantastic book/course (written in 1992.) It tells you to do two things for the rest of your life. The first is Morning Pages, three stream-of-consciousness journal pages every morning. I stuck with that since the first time I did the course, and it’s been life changing. The second is the Artist’s Date—going alone on a weekly, enjoyable activity to refill your creative well. (The more playful the better.) I abandoned that one immediately.
Now that I’m back in it, I sat down to consider my first artist’s date, and the only thing I really wanted to do was to drive the twenty minutes to Taco Bell and get one of the 7 Layer Burritos they’re selling during their Y2K promotion. So I did. To make it more Artist Dates-y, I rolled the windows down, blasted the 90’s alternative rock I listened to in 2000, and just imagined I was back there.
IT WAS SO FUN. The specific era I’m going for is 1997-2005, the time when I was the most confident and had the least justification for that confidence. Fun, Flirty, Fearless, Silly, Annoying, Obnoxious—what a great time! That burrito was the best burrito I ever had! (All burritos eaten since 2005 are disqualified.)
Back at home, I put on the Spider Man T-shirt I was wearing when I met my husband (in high school,) looked in the mirror, and thought, This is a lifestyle I could stay in forever. Everything I watch, I will watch on the TV. Everything I listen to will be on speakers for everyone in the house or the car to hear. I will have to justify and negotiate all my media consumption. Anything stupid I say, I will say in person, on the phone, or on this blog. I will limit my use of texting, imagining myself back in the era where I had to pay per text. If I have something uncomfortable to say, like if I’m cancelling plans, I’ll call. I’ll hang out with people in person, even people that kind of suck. Here in the 90’s, we choose people to spend time with based on geographical proximity, not perfect alignment of all beliefs and opinions.
The best part is the clothes. I went shopping today, and for the first time in forever, I tried something on, and said out loud, “I look fucking cool.” Yes, with the F-bomb. Now that I’m a teenager in the 90’s again, it’s amazing that I haven’t used the F-word four times in this post already.
The 2020’s just suck, okay? And I suck. I’ve gotten so pessimistic and sad. It was so fun writing the title to this post while disregarding the last 20 years of experiences telling me that this whole 90’s thing is a short-lived phase. Screw you, Adult Sarah! 90’s me is the real me and who I’ll always be. The first worst thing that ever happened to me happened in 2006, outside my new time frame, which means it never happened and never will, let alone all worst things that followed.
Yeah, okay, I know the 1997-2005 time period wasn’t great for everyone. I had a bunch of gay friends in high school and had no idea because they were all in the closet. Then there was 9/11 and the Iraq war. All of that was awful. But the ways I was awful feel so much better than the ways I’m awful now. Why don’t you try it? It doesn’t have to be the Y2K era. Just pick a period you liked and try to live how you lived then and to be who you were. Could be fun. (But please don’t be a jerk or be reckless. I had to say that to myself, after the second time I was honked at on the burrito run. Teenage Sarah is not a good driver.)