Every Seven Years

posted 21st September 2010    Written by: Doniree    CATEGORY: Doniree, Inspiration, Job/Career/Work, Life Lesson, Season 3, What I've Learned

Did you know your taste buds change every seven years?  I didn’t.

Well, at least not until a friend told me that this summer.  I’d marveled at my newfound love of macaroons despite the fact that I used to hate the mere thought of coconut.  It hadn’t really occurred to me that it was a change in taste buds – maybe coconut had changed over the years?

This got me thinking about other foods besides coconut that I eat now but didn’t when I was just a little Doni.  Things like mashed potatoes, eggs benedict (fried eggs in general, and this is a new thing), avocados, and cous cous.

I still don’t like applesauce, white chocolate, or water chesnuts.

I did a little research, and it looks as though Je is right – taste buds change every 5-7 years, explaining why I wouldn’t touch an Almond Joy when I was little and could eat my weight in macaroons today.

What else changes in seven years?

Looking Back

Seven years ago, I was 20 years old, I’d finished up my second (and last) semester at Marquette University and had moved back to Minnesota.  I lived in Dinkytown, didn’t own my cute little black cat yet, and officially transferred to the University of Minnesota.  I definitely didn’t eat coconut and definitely didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I was on track to be a high school Spanish teacher, a high school guidance counselor, or a professional research psychologist.  I daydreamed about being a travel writer.  I drank cheap beer, cheap whiskey, and spent money like it was my job.

That year, I had jobs at a makeup store, a golf course, and a grocery store.  I met people and friends who first taught me what “friends like family” meant and who would influence the course of my life in some pretty huge ways.

Looking Here

In this moment, I’m 27.  It’s fall in Colorado.

I’m an independent contractor (self-employed?  freelancer?) who’s working her tail off to figure out how to work, travel, live, explore, seek, and learn all at the same time.  I’m surrounded by love, support, and opportunity – sometimes too much opportunity.  I’m swamped, but it’s my own fault and to be honest – I’d much rather be busy than bored.  I don’t even understand what bored means anymore.

I’m learning to crochet.  I wish I had more time for reading.  I’m going to yoga consistently, though not as frequently as I’d like.  I’m nervous about my upcoming yoga training.  I’m excited to visit my family next weekend.  I’m head over heels in love with the people in my life (new friends and old) and am blessed to have professional work that is as compelling as it is time-consuming.

I’m a tornado sometimes, charging full-speed ahead, still waiting for some the pieces to fall into place.  BALANCE is a daily intention.  It has to be a conscious thought or it doesn’t happen.

Looking Forward

Where would I like to be in seven years?

I’m hoping I’ll have visited lived in Europe at least once, be out of debt, have an official name and structure to my successful business, have seen myself published in print, and have a relationship with a hotel chain and airline that makes travel a seamless and natural part of my lifestyle.

I’ll have mastered the art of balance, carried rich and deep personal relationships with me along the way, and be relishing in a life supported by my values including love, connection, and gratitude.

And who knows?  Maybe I’ll be into white chocolate by then.

I also heard somewhere* that it’s actually every cell in our body that regenerates every seven years – scientifically speaking**, this means we’re totally different people every seven years.

Where were you seven years ago?  What do you want in the next seven years?

Seven years ago, I was in college, a little unsure but just as bright-eyed.  Now?  I’m tornado-ing myself through more self-discovery, more personal growth, and establishing the foundation for the next seven years of love, exploration, and success – in ways that I define and measure love, exploration, and success.

* unconfirmed, as source is my boyfriend and told me that when I told him the thing about the taste buds.

** as scientifically speaking as I can be, you know – not being an actual scientist (or even closely resembling one) and all.

{Photo source}

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Comments (18)

18 Responses to “Every Seven Years”

  • Emily Says:
    September 21st, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    I love this! 7 years ago I was a freshman in college and began 6 years of hyperfocus. 2 degrees and 2 serious grown up jobs later and here I am trying to reclaim some fun and adventure in my life. 7 years from now I'll be married- maybe even have kids, living in a different city, maybe a whole new career!

  • Emily Says:
    September 21st, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    I love this! Seven years ago, I was just a freshman in college. Six years of hyperfocus, two degrees, two serious jobs and one engagement later, here I am trying to reintroduce joy and adventure into my life. In seven more years, I'll be married, maybe even have kids, live in a different city, and maybe even change careers completely. Looking forward to the next 7!

  • nikkiklecha Says:
    September 21st, 2010 at 1:47 pm

    NICE! Seven years ago, I was graduating college, moving to London & struggling with a daily-heartbreaking long-distance relationship. I had no clue that life would take me to LA, the relationship wouldn't work, and that his roommates would turn out to be some of my best friends in the whole world. I had just started the hardest and most growth-filled chapter of my life. I've come a long way, baby, and so have you. Here's to 7 (plus) amazing, fulfilling, purposeful years ahead of both of us! (I'm actually lifting my beer to you, in JFK on a layover right now!) xx

  • pixie658 Says:
    September 21st, 2010 at 3:57 pm

    7 years ago I was a junior in college, taking 21 credits a semester to pull off a double major, working a couple jobs, dating a drug dealer, making straight As but living with severe anxiety and panic attacks, underweight and neurotic. I wouldn't trade places with myself then. In fact, I like to pretend my life didn't begin until 2008. :) That being said, I am who I am today because I was that girl then. She's still part of me, teaching me and helping me grow into a better, happier woman today. :) I don't plan more than 6 months in the future, so I have no idea where I'll be in 7 years. I try not to plan because life happens in ways we can never expect. I am sooooo thankful that who I am today and what I am doing today is not at all who I thought I would be or what I thought I would be doing. Hell, 7 years ago I thought I'd already have a PhD and would be a professor of Sociology or Social Psych. (Makes me laugh out loud.)
    So happy you've come so far in 7 years and I look forward to seeing what the next 7 years has in store for us all! Woohoo!

  • Doniree Says:
    September 21st, 2010 at 4:00 pm

    Cheers, to purposeful! :) And all of that other beautiful truth!

  • Doniree Says:
    September 21st, 2010 at 4:02 pm

    you HAVE come a long way and I can't wait to see where the next seven years bring you – you're living beautifully now, and I'm so proud of you :)

  • eemusings Says:
    September 21st, 2010 at 4:44 pm

    Seven years ago I wouldn't touch pumpkin, carrot, eggplant or pineapple. How things change.

    In seven years I'll be 29 (!!!!!) Should be interesting to see what life brings me.

  • Mir Says:
    September 21st, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    Seven years ago, I was 19 years old, a sophomore at UWRF just getting into my education classes. I was constantly hoping for prince charming to come along and whisk me off my feet. I was naive, easily influenced by others, and incredibly dependent on people around me. Today, I'm 26, married to a man who did more than sweep me off my feet- but caught me as I fell head over heels in love. I've learned to love my me-time, rely on friends and family but not to the point that I can not survive on my own. I'm a teacher, slowly becoming more confident in what I do. And soon, hopefully, I will have more titles to add to my list. :) WOW.

    I got my hair cut this weekend and was complaining about the latest curl on one side of my head that seems to have just appeared several weeks ago and looks out of place and annoying. My hair lady told me your hair changes every 7 years. :)

  • suki Says:
    September 22nd, 2010 at 8:11 am

    7. That would mean some time this year, my taste buds must have changed as I'm on my way to 29. :) 7 years ago, I was on my second to last year of school. I had just returned from Japan after a year abroad there.

  • Doniree Says:
    September 22nd, 2010 at 9:07 am

    I LOVE THAT. I love you, and I love the beautiful woman you are and have become :) And that part about the hair? SO INTERESTING.

  • Renee Says:
    September 22nd, 2010 at 12:41 pm

    They say every relationship goes through a seven year rut, so seven years from now I'll be looking back on my first rut and high-fiving my husband with glasses of wine for getting through it gracefully.

  • Alisha Says:
    September 22nd, 2010 at 1:32 pm

    Haha!!!

  • Alisha Says:
    September 22nd, 2010 at 1:35 pm

    7 years ago was my senior year of high school–an amazing time in my life where everything seemed to be going right. 7 years from now I hope my kids are happy in school, that we're living in Colorado, and I have been published in print and am making a decent amount of money from my writing.

  • marianschembari Says:
    September 23rd, 2010 at 3:50 am

    Oh man, this is an awesome post – my favorite of yours by far! Also? DINKYTOWN!?!? Really? Is that totally bitchy of me to find that HILARIOUS?

  • Doniree Says:
    September 23rd, 2010 at 5:59 am

    HA! Not at all! It's the area of town right off of the U of MN campus in Minneapolis that's ripe with student housing, coffee shops, bars, smoke shops, etc… :) HUGE place in my heart :)

  • Doniree Says:
    September 23rd, 2010 at 5:59 am

    Colorado would love to have you :)

  • Doniree Says:
    September 23rd, 2010 at 5:59 am

    LOVE THAT! So, we're establishing here that *things* just happen in sevens. Got it.

  • Halfway | Stratejoy | Conquer Your Quarterlife Crisis through Fresh Strategies for Real Joy Says:
    October 26th, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    [...] talked about debt and money issues and how our tastes and interests change over time, covered friendships and the rituals that surround those, and talked about brilliant joy [...]

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