every couple years i imagine the intellect/mind embarks on an analysis/update of the self. like indexing your 'C' drive, this is how we humans are able to distinguish between the characteristics of our 5-year-old selves and our 19-year-old selves (and so on).

we presume there is a distinction between those selves, and that age is the only tangible marker (combining bodily and cognitive development) --the only guidepost that connects this 'jeopardy surface' (a term i borrow from Kim Rossmo and bastardize to mean a volatile self-construct) yourself to the jeopardy surface of others.

when we come into contact with others who may have known us "well" over a period of years, that other person brings along a perhaps outdated knowledge or prejudice regarding our jeopardy surface.

we can even become strangers to ourselves if we neglect or deny our selves an impending update...ex., the man-boy

i find the whole conscious process excruciating, maybe since i often look backward in nostalgia and awe, maybe since i've been programmed to look backward in that way, maybe because it feels so good to gloss over things.