Taylor: Chapters of My Life
Summary
TLDRIn this reflective interview, Taylor discusses his life as if it were a book, dividing it into chapters. From early years marked by hyperactivity to discovering individuality during his first year at Liberty University, Taylor's narrative is a journey of self-discovery and growth. He recounts his love for cars, his rebellious phase, and the transformative experience of moving to Oklahoma with his wife. Currently, he's in a chapter of uncertainty due to global events, yet envisions a future of career fulfillment, community involvement, and possibly, political engagement.
Takeaways
- 📚 Taylor segmented his life into chapters, each with a distinct theme and age range, reflecting on his personal growth and experiences.
- 👶 Chapter one, 'What Am I Doing?' covers Taylor's early years from age zero to four, a period he doesn't remember well, symbolizing the beginning of his life's journey.
- 👕 Chapter two, 'The Khaki Years,' describes his time in elementary school from ages five to eight, where he wore a uniform and attended a school with a dress code, including half days on Thursdays.
- 🧠 Chapter three, 'Becoming Aware,' spans ages nine to twelve, a period when Taylor recognized his hyperactivity and started self-regulating his behavior to be less obnoxious.
- 🎭 Chapter four, 'The Boy with Long Hair,' covers his teenage years from thirteen to sixteen, when he was involved in theater and embraced a creative side, which was a contrast to his more reserved classroom behavior.
- 🚗 Chapter five, 'Finally Able to Drive,' encompasses ages sixteen to eighteen, a time when Taylor cherished the freedom and independence that driving a car offered him.
- 🏫 Chapter six, 'The Year of Liberty,' focuses on his first year of college at Liberty University, which was a pivotal year of self-discovery and questioning of his previously held beliefs.
- 🚙 Chapter seven, 'Doing Whatever I Want,' from ages nineteen to twenty-one, was a period of exploration and self-indulgence, where Taylor bought his first car, a Jeep named Caroline.
- 💍 Chapter eight, 'Oklahoma,' marks a significant transition in Taylor's life, as he got married, moved to a new state, and further developed his identity as part of a couple.
- 🌟 Chapter nine, 'Who Freaking Knows,' represents Taylor's current state of uncertainty and exploration, acknowledging the unpredictability of the future and the collective challenges faced by society.
Q & A
What is the title of the first chapter of Taylor's life according to the transcript?
-The title of the first chapter is 'What Am I Doing?' which covers Taylor's age from zero to four.
Why did Taylor call the second chapter of his life 'The Khaki Years'?
-Taylor called the second chapter 'The Khaki Years' because he wore khaki pants every single day to Montclair Elementary School, which had a dress code, during his ages five through eight.
What significant realization did Taylor have during his 'Becoming Aware' chapter?
-During the 'Becoming Aware' chapter, which was from ages nine to twelve, Taylor realized that he needed to tone down his hyperactive behavior as he was coming across as obnoxious to others.
Why did Taylor grow his hair long during his teenage years?
-Taylor grew his hair long from ages 13 to 16 because he was involved in theater and many boys in theater had long hair. He thought it was attractive and it helped him meet his first girlfriend.
What was the allure of driving for Taylor and how did it relate to his freedom?
-The allure of driving for Taylor was deeply tied to the freedom and autonomy it provided. He had been obsessed with cars from a young age and the ability to drive meant he could go where he wanted without depending on others for transportation.
Why did Taylor's experience at Liberty University lead to a significant change in his beliefs?
-Taylor's experience at Liberty University led to a significant change in his beliefs because he was exposed to ideas that clashed with his conservative upbringing. This led him to question and challenge many of the views he had been told to accept.
What was the name of Taylor's first car and why was it significant?
-Taylor's first car was a 1994 Jeep Wrangler named Caroline. It was significant because it represented his newfound freedom and independence after the period of 'Doing Whatever I Want'.
How did Taylor's move to Oklahoma influence his life and relationship?
-Moving to Oklahoma for college helped Taylor and his wife grow as a couple. It was a time of exploration and self-discovery, allowing them to define their identity as a unit and experience the freedom of the 'frontier'.
What is the title of the current chapter in Taylor's life and what does it signify?
-The current chapter in Taylor's life is titled 'Who Freaking Knows', signifying the uncertainty and unpredictability of the present, especially with the ongoing global events like the coronavirus pandemic and social justice protests.
What does Taylor envision for his next chapter and how does it reflect his aspirations?
-For his next chapter, Taylor envisions moving to a place that aligns with his career goals in history, becoming more active in his community, and potentially getting involved in politics. This reflects his desire for professional fulfillment, community engagement, and social progress.
Outlines
📚 Early Years and School Days
Taylor begins by discussing the early chapters of life, starting with age zero to four, which he humorously titles 'What Am I Doing?' due to a lack of memories. He then moves on to the 'Khaki Years' from ages five to eight, detailing his experience at Montclair Elementary School in Virginia, where he wore khaki pants daily as part of the dress code. This period included kindergarten through third grade and was marked by the school's peculiar half-day schedule on Thursdays.
🚗 Adolescence and the Love for Cars
In the next chapter, Taylor describes the period from ages nine to 12 as 'Becoming Aware,' a time when he recognized his hyperactivity and began self-regulating his behavior. He humorously notes being compared to the talkative character Donkey from 'Shrek.' The chapter from ages 13 to 16 is titled 'The Boy with Long Hair,' reflecting his foray into theater and the creative freedom it offered, contrasting with the structured classroom environment. Taylor also discusses how his long hair, a trend among theater boys, led to meeting his first girlfriend.
🏫 College Experiences and Self-Discovery
Taylor's narrative continues with his high school years, ages 16 to 18, where he finally obtained his driver's license, an event he had eagerly anticipated since childhood. This period represents newfound freedom and autonomy. At 18, he enters Liberty University, which he dubs the 'Year of Liberty,' a pivotal year where he challenged his conservative upbringing and developed independent beliefs. This chapter is marked by intellectual and personal growth, leading to a decision to leave the university due to ideological conflicts.
🔍 Post-College Exploration and Future Aspirations
The final chapters cover Taylor's post-college life, where he bought his first car, a Jeep named Caroline, symbolizing his continued love for cars and the freedom they represent. He then discusses the 'Doing Whatever I Want' phase, a period of self-indulgence and less consideration for others. The narrative shifts to 'Oklahoma,' marking his marriage and the couple's move to the University of Oklahoma, where they further defined their identity as a pair. The current chapter, 'Who Freaking Knows,' reflects the uncertainty of life during the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest, with Taylor contemplating future moves, career shifts, and a more active role in community and political engagement.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Chapters of Life
💡Self-Awareness
💡Identity Formation
💡Freedom and Autonomy
💡Theater and Creativity
💡Liberty University
💡Transition to Adulthood
💡Relationships and Marriage
💡Career and Professional Aspirations
💡Community and Social Activism
Highlights
Taylor describes life as a book divided into chapters, each representing a distinct phase.
Chapter one, 'What Am I Doing?' covers ages zero to four, a period with few memories.
Chapter two, 'The Khaki Years,' ages five to eight, marked by a strict dress code at Montclair Elementary School.
Becoming aware of his hyperactivity and its impact on others during ages nine to twelve.
The 'Boy with Long Hair' chapter, ages thirteen to sixteen, explores Taylor's identity through theater and a new look.
Driving and the freedom it symbolizes become a significant theme at age sixteen.
Chapter six, 'The Year of Liberty,' is a pivotal year of self-discovery at Liberty University.
Taylor's realization of his own beliefs conflicting with the conservative environment at Liberty.
Chapter seven, 'Doing Whatever I Want,' reflects a period of self-indulgence and less consideration for others post-college.
Chapter eight, 'Oklahoma,' signifies a new beginning with marriage and further education.
The importance of geographical movement from the East Coast to the Midwest for personal growth.
Chapter nine, 'Who Freaking Knows,' captures the uncertainty and adaptability in the face of global crises.
Taylor's vision for chapter ten includes potential career changes and community involvement.
The desire to contribute to a progressive future and possibly entering politics.
The interview concludes with Taylor's ongoing journey of self-discovery and anticipation for the future.
Transcripts
well taylor
thanks for talking with me about um
chapters of your life
and so i had asked you to sort of think
about your life as if it were a book
and sort of divvy it up into chapters
and so
what have you got for me what what did
you come up with let's talk through your
chapters
so i also put an age range okay each one
sure to kind of help divvy it up so
chapter one
is what am i doing that's age zero
through 4 because
like i don't really remember any of that
or
even if i did i don't don't know what i
was up to so
okay i'm just sort of figuring
everything out so this is the beginning
stage
few with any memories of specific things
but
it's the prelude in some ways to what's
the gum
did you have a title for it you had what
was it you call it what am i doing what
am i doing yeah
okay so that was the chapter okay and
how about
what do you do from there so chapter two
uh was ages five through eight
was the khaki years uh i went to
an elementary school that had a dress
code and so
all the boys had to wear either a white
red or
black polo shirt and then khaki pants
i see so i wore khakis every single day
every day khaki pants every day
khaki shorts khaki long pants heavy long
pants long pants
and a white red or black yes shirt
polo shirt okay and um
and this was all through this is from
great from what from five
five through eight so that was like
kindergarten through third grade
i see okay and where were you at that
point
what was the school yeah it was
montclair elementary school
in virginia a private school no it's
public school it's a public school
with a dress code like that a dress code
and uh
half days on thursdays don't know why
just they just decided to do half days
on thursdays wow
that's really interesting yeah it was a
re it was a weird school uh-huh
so but it was public okay interesting
and then where did you go from there
so age nine through 12 i called
becoming aware okay um so as a
when i was a kid i had really bad atd
and so
you know it was kind of hyperactive and
bouncing all over the place
and uh wasn't really aware that
like it was kind of annoying so from
like nine to twelve i
started realizing like okay you need to
kind of tone it down a bit
because you're a little obnoxious okay
so you begin to see in the reflection of
other people
that you were a little too supercharged
a little too annoying
yeah like what would be an example of
that of when you
you came to recognize your sounds like
you're coming to recognize your impact
on other people
um i would say i
so my family used to call me donkey
because i was like the character donkey
in shrek okay i wouldn't shut up okay i
talked incessantly
and maybe my wife would say i still do
that
but um better than shrek though maybe in
some ways
um but i just kind of realized that like
like
okay you don't need to be talking all
the time you can just kind of
calm down and like you know listen a
little bit okay so that was a time
of almost sort of self-monitoring and
self-regulating and self-checking
exactly okay okay yeah okay that's a
big transformation uh so chapter four
was
i called the boy with long hair because
when i was 13 to about 16 i had
shoulder length hair was flowy
and wavy and not always clean
it wasn't the most attractive look but i
thought it was at the time
of course you did right so i had really
really long hair
okay so when you look back on it that
what what represents that or what's that
what was it about that chapter i mean
you had the long hair
was there something inside you as well
at that time or how would you
characterize you
uh i think that was when i started to do
theater a lot and
so for some reason a lot of the boys in
theater had
really long hair and so i thought that i
would do that as well
okay um i mean it would i guess you
could say it was mildly successful
because
i met my first girlfriend because she
just wanted to come
like touch my hair oh well then no
wonder you kept the long hair so yeah
i was very stubborn about cutting and
then cutting that hair because it
worked before sure absolutely i'm also
understanding that as then
you know if that's your introduction to
theater time there's something about
that being
a creative time or a flowing time or you
coming into your own in some ways
yeah it was when i could do
quotes from movies or talk a lot and um
like that was the way to do it correctly
ah whereas in just normal everyday life
and especially in the classroom that was
not the way to do it correctly that
wasn't the time it wasn't the place
so for theater that was kind of where i
could goof off and it was
the right way to do it well that's
wonderful i mean it kind of gave you
a corridor a vehicle for being able to
express yourself
appropriately and creatively into them
you could be the donkey
in character exactly and it was cool and
okay yeah exactly
okay very cool all right then what
happens
uh so then it was finally able to drive
that was
16 through 18. okay yep um because
ever since i was like two or three years
old i've always just gravitated toward
cars
oh and so all the way up until 16 i was
just
counting down the days that i could
drive because i just
really really wanted to drive that's all
i wanted
and so that was finally like you know at
the end of high school the last two
years of high school i could finally
drive and it was like this
really cool new thing and i could go
wherever i wanted and
kind of do what i want so that was
really cool wow so it was a long time
coming
yes talk about delayed gratification
yeah yeah it was about
about 13 or 14 years
and waiting and waiting to drive what do
you mean i can't get a license at six
you know exactly so what
what when you think back on it taylor
what was the um
[Music]
what was the long allure about driving
what when you thought about driving
your attraction to cars and driving that
would be cool and that's attractive or
that's appealing
why what because uh i guess because
just on the surface level it's just more
because i just loved cars
so much and i mean even now i'm just
absolutely obsessed with cars i love
cars
um and so i grew up like my my granddad
had a 1967
beetle right and so i would just go sit
in the beetle
in his driveway for like an hour or two
hours
and just pretend like i was driving but
i guess on a
more of a like a subconscious level it
was the freedom of
being able to determine that i was going
to go where i wanted i wasn't dependent
on
my mommy taking me or my dad picking me
up and
so you know i want to go to the mall hey
mom i'm going to the mall see you later
and like
i'll be back when i feel like it but you
know obviously not so rude but freedom
autonomy and freedom yeah independence
um great that's excellent yeah worth the
wait huh
yeah yeah absolutely then what game
so chapter six is the year of liberty
that was 18 19 years old because
my first year of college i went to
liberty university
which is a private uh baptist
university sure in the hills of virginia
and um really discovered a lot about
who i was and who i was not
and so i know that's only it's literally
just
one school year and so it's like that's
the shortest chapter as far as
amount of time but i did a lot of
growing there
because i came from a relatively
conservative family
you know growing up in the baptist
church thought that i would go to
liberty and find more of
that and discovered that
when it was just me and i didn't really
have
you know my church telling me how to
think about things or
didn't have my parents telling me how to
think about things i decided that i
didn't really believe a lot of the stuff
that i've been told you know not
necessarily about
the church but just socially
and historically and looking at things
from
you know a perspective that wasn't quite
as privileged
and the reason i was only at liberty for
one year was because i clashed
with pretty much everybody there on
on a lot of those views well now i mean
the irony is not lost on me
teller that you i mean first of all the
the name of the university of liberty
actually at least for me
suggests anything but i mean it's pretty
conservative right it is very
very concerning but yet you used this
constraining
and confining kind of ideology
as a springboard to liberate yourself i
mean you
you transcended it you clashed with it
you overcame it
rather than succumbing to it or staying
within it you kind of
expanded yourself and used it as a
springboard to
move onward and upward yeah exactly and
there's a few people i know
maybe two or three other people that
went to liberty and had the same
experience and even if they finished
there or
if they did like i did and chose to go
to a different school later
they kind of had the same the same
experience that i did that
you know it was just not as inclusive as
we were expecting it wasn't as
open-minded as we were expecting and
came we came out very critical of that
interesting
um but you know i would say that 99
of the people that i know that went
there just kind of went along with it
and
just did the liberty thing and
were all you know they let themselves be
told kind of what to do and what to
think
boy that that itself is is is mind
opening for you isn't it to see
yeah the people that would succumb to
that as opposed to the people who would
rise above it
interesting what happened next what uh
you saw this it was only one year but
what a big year
it really was that was kind of there's a
there's like a pre-liberty and a post
liberty
oh because pre-liberty i you know
grew up and you just kind of when you're
younger you sort of just parrot
whatever your parents say sure you know
whether that's politically or
religiously or whatever
and then after that i just kind of
decided like
yeah i mean they might tell me that
that's what they believe and they might
tell me that's what they want me to
believe
but i'm not like i'm gonna challenge
that and figure out what i want to
believe and what i want to say moving
forward you've got your own car to drive
at this point don't you yeah yeah i did
actually as soon as i got back
it kind of goes into the next chapter
okay which is
doing whatever i want that was 19
through 21.
okay one of the first things i did when
i got back was i bought myself a jeep
oh wow okay because you know like i said
i was you know super obsessed with cars
and
wanted you know i just had always really
really loved jeeps um
it was a 1994 wrangler five-speed lifted
her name was caroline
i remember her vividly you always
remember your first caroline
but then i that kind of was the start of
me doing kind of whatever i wanted and
then
some of the other stuff where i wasn't
necessarily as respectful
of other people and kind of did whatever
i want even if it was going to hurt
someone else and
so that was there was a time in my life
when i wasn't as
friendly or as kind to other people just
because i just wanted what i wanted and
other people be damned you were breaking
free and more of a renegade kind of
and you even disassociate a jeep sort of
with freedom you know
yeah you're doing the off-roading thing
at that point exactly i don't know where
i'm going i don't need no roads
and then what happens where did you move
to where are you
so chapter eight is called oklahoma
okay yeah okay um so that was when
uh got married and then went for the
last two years
of college uh transferred to the
university of oklahoma
and um absolutely loved it and
that's when you know i had spent the
time at liberty figuring out who i was
then did whatever i wanted figured out
more who i was
and then oklahoma helped us figure out
as a couple who we were going to be
and so we did a lot of growing as a as a
couple there
so literally coming into your own
growing up
getting your own direction and uh
sort of forging taylor yeah and then in
his marriage
well and it was kind of a historic
uh thing for us because
we come from the east coast and then
we're going out into this brave new
world and we're going out west
you know we're moving westward to
oklahoma and you know the freedom that's
supposed to come with the planes
and you know all of that sure go west
young man
yeah you really think of the frontier
yeah exactly yeah the frontier thing
that's kind of what we were thinking of
you know at some point i'd thought you
know hey maybe this is just a pit stop
on the way to california like it was for
so many people
sure yeah you could have gone out for
gold mining at that point you know i
know
well very cool and then what where does
this lead you to the chapter you're in
or
so yeah this is the last one chapter
nine which is who freaking knows
because it's it's kind of like right now
you know we don't really know i mean as
we sit here now i mean there's
coronavirus going on and there's uh you
know racial injustice protests going on
everywhere and so we don't really know
where we're going to go as a country but
also
just that's kind of the nature of the
future in general you never really know
what's going to come next
so so confronting you've forged a kind
of direction for yourself you've come
into your own
but at the same time you're coming to
realize that we face
collectively on certain futures along
lots of
politically and economically and
environmentally
and medically there's the uncertainty of
life
and not knowing quite what what we have
to condemn with what we have to face
what is the next chapter for you taylor
what do you if you
were to envision a 10th chapter that you
would be moving from
this stage into what might that chapter
be or what might that chapter look like
i think that it would look like probably
moving again
just because this isn't the place that
at least that i want to be forever
it would look like uh getting
into a career field that more closely
matches with my degree of history rather
than you know working for
a government contractor and having a
clearance and all that that's not
really where i want to end up that's
just kind of a you know foot in the door
so just kind of being
more uh where we want to be physically
geographically
being more where i want to be in my
career but then also
starting to be more active in the
community as far as
you know like with all what's going on
right now with the
the protest making sure that i'm you
know being a part of that and being a
part of the progressive future
and uh you know contributing and
maybe one day going into politics or
something like that and just kind of
trying to pave
that path interesting so you're really
still very much on the journey
and you're looking for the next stage in
which you can find a place
and um put down some intent stakes
and and and and get settled and feel
like
you're doing more what you want to be
doing professionally
um you're able to make a commitment and
participate more deeply and richly in
the community
and uh and and um and stick a claim to
the future that you are forging you're
developing
yes yeah exactly very cool well thank
you for sharing your chapters and for
sharing your
your history appreciate it
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