nature finds nurture

I drew this map of my old neighborhood as a kind of case study of my own childhood, with each house and name representing someone who crossed my path growing up. Importantly, this is 100% from memory - the map, the relationships and types of people I’m depicting.

I wanted to think about which kids influenced me and which did not + why. Most “friends” I had before I got a bike and was able to go wherever I wanted were there simply because they lived  nearby. Some drifted off because our personalities just didn’t mesh. Some were scary as hell (usually older kids) which made an impact on me and is probably why I remember those kids more than the nice/boring ones. Mean can be exciting! But a couple of them really clicked with me, especially the ones who were a  little “mysterious.” That’s the vibe I gravitated toward, and I think I was drawn to those people because we shared something in our nature (often an interest in fireworks or other risky behaviors).

Looking  back, I can see how just being around these people influenced how I thought about things and I my have influenced them too. The chart at the bottom sorts everybody by the  different qualities I noticed, like “nice,” “mean,” “boring,” or  “exciting”.