I saw an influencer online post several times about how she’s freaking out about turning 27, and at one time, that would have really annoyed me. No one younger than me should ever worry about their age or getting older! But now I just find it kind of cute. For starters, 27 is such an arbitrary number to be concerned about, like freaking out about turning 19 or 34, but also because it seems so young to me now. That was eight years ago for me! At 27, I had recently moved back to Michigan and had gotten my first office job at GM. I lived by myself for the first time. So much has changed for me since then, and I’m sure in eight more years, I’ll look back on 35 the same way.
As we get older, we get less and less excited about the new number, and more concerned about the time we have left and all the things we still want to do. YOLO becomes less of an excuse to do dumb stuff and more of a looming threat. Oh my, this is taking a morbid turn isn’t it?
I don’t mind getting older, at least not yet. So far, each year has been better than the last. I’ve learned, I’ve matured, I’ve gotten more comfortable with who I am. I’ve grown out of embarrassing phases and into new ones. I’ve traveled and made mistakes, messed up and started over. I don’t think I have anything groundbreaking to say about turning another year older, but I always think of my birthday as a time to check in and reflect.
Each year on my birthday, I write future me a letter where I reflect on the past year and talk about my goals for the next one. Who do I want to be at this time next year? What do I want to have accomplished by then? When I’m done, I read the letter from the previous year. It’s more to see how I’ve changed and grown during the course of the year than to see if I did everything I set out to do. Less of a new year’s resolution, and more of an annual check-in. Maybe I’ve done everything, maybe nothing, maybe my goals and priorities have changed completely.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m going to write in my letter this year. Though I still have a lot I’d like to accomplish in my life, I don’t feel as much urgency this year as in previous ones. There’s a lot of pressure on women in their 20s and early 30s to have it all and be it all, but all I want to focus on this year is removing that pressure. I don’t want to cater to arbitrary deadlines for when I should be hitting certain milestones, I don’t want to waste precious mental energy comparing myself to others, I don’t want to feel guilty about saying no. Basically:
This is not to say that I’m going to give up on anything I’m working toward, just that I’m removing the self-imposed deadlines. I also think I’m going to wean myself off my Apple Watch for similar reasons. I don’t need a piece of technology yelling at me that I’m not enough. Or the weird tan lines tbh.
Life Updates:
I have my last pottery class on Tuesday and I’m feeling really sad about it, but I’m also starting to get some of my pieces back, and that’s the most fun part. I’m considering staying on and renting studio space though, so there might be more to come.
some cutie pieces I’m working on! I’m loving all the summer produce! Summer is my favorite food season, and I’m enjoying all the tomatoes, peaches, and cherries while I can.
a tomato, avocado, and corn salad I made for my family reunion I’ve been in a major reading slump, and I haven’t had a 5-star read since early April. I’m really hoping I can get one this month or I may lose all hope forever (dramatic). I just started this book of essays from Nora Ephron, and I’m enjoying it so far though, so there’s hope.
Mornings are my favorite time of day I ran to Forest Bakery this week because they had a coney dog danish, and I simply had to get one for Cody (my bf and coney connoisseur). It looked very cool, but as I don’t eat hotdogs, I can’t give a full review. He loved it though!
coney dog danish!!! Alright, that’s all for now. See you on the other side (of my 30s).
Coney dog danish is a great concept
Happy early birthday!! <3