Regency

The 20s are all about rallying. People love to have something or someone to rally around. It's what we do. We organize, come together, and throw our support behind things and people that we care about. It's an awe-inspiring phenomenon to see in full force à la protests, boycotts, and sit-ins but also in small ways like groups of people hanging out, videos going viral, and successful fundraising efforts. There is something to be said about being part of those groups, but even more so what does it mean to be part of that centrality. That's where it becomes regency.

As a kid I imagined myself almost always to be a prince. I never wanted to be king, just a prince. I liked the extravagance of royalty, the power that implicitly comes with it, and the recognition that comes with it. I loved playing Age of Empires - a strategic came about conquering civilizations in everyone's disturbingly violent way ... warfare. Many a Friday night in high school was spend firing cannons, launching barrages of synchronized arrows, and sending hordes of cavalry to enemy gates. In those moments I rallied for country, for nation, for imperialism exploration. I even had a stint where that yearning for monarchy crept it's way into real life (let's just say 8th grade me had a tough time distinguishing between reality and fantasy) where I classified people (in the most harmless yet embarrassingly taxonomic way) as members of my kingdom. Even the book and a half I wrote that summer (I was a homebody - let me live) imagined me as a majestic prince commanding immense wealth, power, and social clout in a realm of suburban teenage melodrama. The semi-coherent rambling of a teenage dynamo came to fruition with my imaginary regency. 


Now more than I ever I'm seeing parallels between those days of old and now where I find myself often at the center of endeavors big and small. Knowing that I have 57 days left until my college graduation has added this underlying sense of urgency to everything I do and my interactions with others. Everything kind of seems heightened and more final. It's the now or never phase and people all around me are demanding me now. It's a lot to handle and to balance. I find myself more sleep deprived than ever before and being run ragged but that's also on me and my inability to say no. It's as if I'm the crowned prince of my campus and yet the help at the same time, ya know? It's a paradox of being both needed/wanted but also on another level exploited. At a certain point you start to wonder whether you're a powerful force or a force being used for power. Question your regency.

There is power in rallying around people but at the same time it can be patronizing. It's necessary to know you're intent behind you're connections to people. Lead with benign curiosity and save the overhyping for delectable foods (pumpkin cheesecake bites), TV show plot twists (The Flash last week though), and your drunk friend's dancing (at the club when they're embarrassing themselves on the dance floor). Celebrate one another in moments that highlight but if you highlight everything then the significance of it is diminished (studying from every textbook ever). Dethrone the regency.

*It's a busy week for yours truly and I'm still committed to exploring the world through my experiences so catch up, I'll save the recap part of this post for the attached video blog!

 

My blog post question for the day is ... when do you feel like royalty? Uhm, whenever I get invited to fancy pants evens and get to use all the hardcore manners I had to learn as a kid.