5 Things I've Learned about Being 20-Something

1.  You would think by this point you would have your shit together, but you don’t.

I mean, you pay your bills on time (mostly), and you work at a job, although maybe not your dream job.  But there are still those nights where your friends have to get you home because you’re “not drunk” you just “can’t walk in these heels.”  Any you know what? THAT’S AWESOME.  I personally aspire to have a photo album I have to hide out of reach of perspective in-laws because I can’t remember most of the circumstances.  If I wanted my twenties to be predictable and responsible I wouldn’t have gone to art school.

2.  People from high school aren’t the same people any more.  Except the ones who are.

It’s a crazy turn of events when you run into some one from high school that you could never see yourself being friends with, and then HOLY SHIT BALLS, it turns out they’re an interesting, amazing person.  Time changes people.  It’s the people who never change you have to be worried about - the high school friends who are still so wrapped up in drama that should have been left back in high school.  These are the people who will gossip about what happened to the “it couple” way after anyone still cared.  It’s great to reminisce, but leave the rumor-mongering to the teens.

3.  There is a nagging urge to compare yourself to everyone your age, but you really shouldn’t.

It is really hard when I graduated amongst people who are now a professional skier (no lie), human medical rights worker in Africa, and a Broadway star, to not feel like a giant waste of a college education.  It is absolutely pointless to think this way because it’s like evaluating your worth based on someone else’s ruler.  I never wanted to be a professional skier, and so it’s ludicrous to feel inadequate when I never even tried.  The best I can do is try to be the best at what I aspire to accomplish.  And even if I’m not where I want to be yet, it doesn’t mean that I stop trying.  It just means my goals might take longer to achieve, and that will make it even more satisfying in the end.

4.  Love is a many-splendored thing…and also rather elusive.

Unless you’re like almost all of my childhood friends and met your great love in high school or college and got hitched (seriously, 3 in 6 months…it was rough for a single gal), the dating atmosphere afterwards is a little unnerving.  You, of course, have your choice of bars, which is honestly better for filling your shame-photo album than meeting the one.  You also have your place of work, which can be rather dangerous if things go sour.  What other options does that leave?  Perhaps a chance meeting at a café, the gym, or a blind date set-up?  How about the dreaded online dating?  Everyone always says when you stop looking for love it finds you.  Well, I hope it can find me on my couch, wearing yoga pants and a sweatshirt, eating a grilled cheese and watching House Hunters International.

5.  When in doubt, have a kiki.

When life hands you lemons and menstrual cycles, gather up your closest friends, lock the door, drink excessively, and have yourself a merry little kiki.  Because City High’s What Would You Do isn’t going to sing itself.


<3 Cass