I suppose being quite young and being thrust quite dramatically into a large public arena skewered my vision of what it means to live and be a part of something.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The idea that you have a vision of what you're supposed to be, or going to be, or where your kids are going to be - and that that doesn't work out - is always going to be something that's going to affect people and move people.
I define myself from a vision, from a point of view of life.
When I was younger, I just thought that my plans were probably going to be more exciting than my parents' plans or the establishment. I sort of got by on being a little bit of a rebel.
I was motivated to go into public life because of the great chasm that exists between justice and injustice in our country. Nowhere is that divide greater than in America's cities.
I became so consumed with trying to live up to what the public expected that I lost myself. I don't know of anyone else who can say this.
As a civilian not playing sport, to get that sense of real belonging and feeling how you are progressing through the day is what I loved and miss.
As an academic, this was not the lifestyle I had planned for myself. Now I see myself everywhere.
I always had this vision of what I wanted to do in life.
I think we carry around the idea of being a Kid in the Hall as part of our identity. It's a big part of how we see ourselves now.
My experience of being on the public platform got more multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, and my place in the public eye, I think, has always been a little more than just what is going on in that time in my life.