Changes in trends over time

Change is inevitable, though sometimes even though we expect change, the change is still hard to comprehend.

Sitting here drinking my creamy pumpkin nutmeg tea, and watching The Dutchess (I like movies based on other time periods), I cannot help but be in awe at just how much we have changed since those times.

So very much has changed not just in fashion, but also in the way of life, of living, of how one is raised. I would say both for better and for worse.

To me it is a very sad thing that once upon a time (given various time periods and ranking in class) a woman was to learn many skills as she grew up; sewing, cooking, voice lessons, riding, languages, posture, etiquette, dancing, writing (in terms of how to write a proper letter, not just grammar) and more… and it seems more and more as time goes on that less of these things are taught.

Men usually were taught things like language, politics, etiquette, dueling, riding, hunting (recreational or survival), economics, public speaking (if noble or royal) sometimes they were also taught nautical means, such as navigation or astronomy, and in some cases war or military leadership.
A common man usually learned only the trade his father performed. Occasionally that was not the case, but rarely.

I can probably count off the top of my head just how many people I have met that can actually cook a proper meal with more than two food groups from scratch. I cannot possibly count how many people I know or have met that could not possibly boil water.

Sewing is even less, though I am fortunate enough to have met some talented spirits who know how to sew.

These things were necessary skills for life, for your future husband, for being accepted into society.

I am happy that people marry for love now rather than for the myriad of other reasons, usually involving wealth and ranking in class, as they used to. I won’t go into arranged marriages.

I am also happy that while women still have a hard time in the work place, being that we are still very much in transition into being equals, we actually have made so much progress and continue to do so.

I am, however, very sad to see so many women taking this for granted and not doing anything with their freedom.

I am sorry but I have a problem with someone who has no desire to learn any skill of use, who would rather eat out or use a microwave than ever learn to cook at least a handful of meals on their own, and cannot spell most words properly. Text speech is not really speech. It is fast, and helpful when one is in a very big hurry, but honestly  it just makes people sound uneducated. To me that is VERY unattractive.

I do not feel anyone is perfect, but I also think effort should be made. It is easier to forgive someone sounding dumb unintentionally, than it is when they do it on purpose, or make no effort to learn how. Spelling being a prime example here. 

I may not have been taught everything a young girl should learn based on previous time periods standards, but I am lucky enough to have been taught most of them. The ones I did not learn are on my list of things to learn. As you all may know that list is rather large and will take some time to go through with everything else I have on my plate, but I still feel they are important.

One of the things I learned growing up was good manners, proper etiquette, empathy, sympathy, to be polite, and how to be respectful (even if I was very stubborn at times)

I didn’t realize how *odd* of a thing this was for me to have these life skills until I was repeatedly asked if I had ever been raised in a military family…. As if there had to be some reason other than being raised properly for my reactions to certain situations, such as being good at empathy at my current customer service job. You would be amazed at how many people either do not care to give empathy or simply cannot grasp the concept as it was not explained to them growing up. For me it is second nature to provide it.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with the people who do not know how to provide empathy, or any of the skills I have mentioned, I just can’t understand how some of those have nearly become obsolete, when I feel some are still very much needed.

I can only imagine what it might be like 100 years from now. What direction society as a whole will take. What will become acceptable and what will not.

History and trends tend to repeat themselves.. I am sure we will just move into another version of our past as we have been doing for so many generations.
Things go out of style and back in style time and time again.

Things change yet we cling to the past, for better or worse. Now if only we could learn from our mistakes a little more.

I know my husband and I, whenever we do have children, will be raised the way we were… Which apparently can be considered old fashioned, but we both feel there are certain skills and knowledge a child must have before entering adulthood.

Yes, it might seem odd that my mother made me walk with a book on my head every day until my posture was perfect, but I got a lot of compliments on it all throughout the years… My posture is not what it used to be as of late.. I need to work on that, but when I walk into a room everyone knows it. That is not to sound pompous, or be self inflating, but to give credit to the simple lesson having made a big impact on how people perceive me. All the other lessons I learned added to this, but the way a person holds themselves speaks volumes about someone.

So yes, my future daughter will learn those same skills for how to be a proper lady, and my future son will learn how to be a proper gentleman.  Maybe it will not be completely by this time periods standards, but I feel this will give them more enriching experiences and open up more opportunities in life.
It certainly did for me….

Just wait, this will become popular at some point again.. Histories trends do repeat themselves, it is just a matter of when that cycle comes around.