The March Hare

This is a picture of me when I was fifteen (red hair, red hat). It's eight years later now, so I want to think about the differences between the me in the picture and the me sitting at the computer at the moment.

1) I am not in high school anymore. I no longer live with my brother. Mistakes are not as easy to rectify or excuse.
2) I no longer have the boundless, manic, crazy-person energy that I did then (and which I think can be fairly clearly seen in the picture.) I am now a normal-energy-level person.
3) I no longer think that I can have long hair. It just doesn't look right.
4) I am much more devoted. To many things. Then, writing, while an important part of my life, was something I could do on the fly. Wake up, write a poem or story, submit it for class that day. I am much more methodical now, and so my output has gone down somewhat.
5) I was always really worried about how I looked then, and I'm not so much now. But I actually looked prettier then, so what does that mean?
6) The girl I'm clutching in the picture is still my best friend.
7) I have been through a lot since then, which makes me altogether different.
8) I have many of the same dreams.
9) Then, I had horrible nightmares every night. Every single night I would wake up in a cold sweat. Not so much anymore.
10) I can no longer see my pediatrician.