Youthful Life: X

The 20s are all about living it up. There is no time like the present and time is of the essence now more than ever. All of those cliché things that people tell you about living in the moment, being where you are, and enjoying yourself ... just so happen to be true. College is one of those unique places and times in your life where you have little to worry about other than yourself. Your responsibilities are limited and your possibilities are seemingly endless. These really might be the best years of your life. My journey during this senior of mine has been to figure out not only how to have fun or what my college experience has meat (because I'm annoyingly complicated and perpetually in this meta-state of self-reflection) but what I'll be doing when college is over. Newsflash, my graduation is only 106 days away. This year, this month, and even this week has been filled with some monumentally important advice from all the random people in my life. Professors, administrator...

The 20s are all about being in the middle. One of the ways we understand is in the context of  a literary narrative. We are the protagonists of our own life stories (out of necessity). What that means at the same time is that no matter what we do or wherever we go we are still the center of our worlds. It's both kind of sad and empowering. That means even when we feel invisible, or when we're over all the hype around us - we haven't really shifted in our chronicles. Absolutely all the time we're in the midst the crossfire. When I was younger I had this irrational goal of becoming a celebrity or famous. I don't know what it was about stardom that gripped me so tightly. Everyone just seemed so happy and like they were constantly having the time of their lives. As soon as they hit the red carpet all eyes were on them. Calvin Klein suits, stainless steel iPhone case, and bright white smiles - what could be better? Thoughts of flashing lights, beckoning calls, and t...

The 20s are all about knowing your limits. College can often be a place where people are disingenuous when it comes to valuing your health over productivity. Self-care is preached from the pulpit but in the pews it is nowhere to be found. Students, staff, and faculty alike are asked to bring their best selves but aren't given the time or are stigmatized for taking it. The atmosphere that a college creates may not always be what's sound for all its community members. Whether we like it or not - we all are susceptible to sickness, fatigue, and overall the shortcomings of being human - enter the state of delirium.   People do a lip-service when it comes to self-care. Yes, it's all well and good to say whenever you're tired or can't do anymore to take time to take care of yourself. The action or good-will behind it when it is put to practice leaves much to be desired. When those who are indispensable are fully incapacitated it's as if those around them are incap...

The 20s are all about choosing your surroundings. There are some things in life that are beyond your control and there are others that we have authority over. Who we let into our lives is one of the most important aspects of it. Those who have access to us have dire significance whether they are of it or not. They can make us better or tear us down. When we give ourselves to others, we leaves ourselves vulnerable to them. There's something both magnificent and terrifying about that all in the same breath. We give others power to raise us up or bring us down. Either way we're in it by popular demand. My house has a constantly revolving door. Like clockwork as Sunday would come so would people coming to greet my parents, have their immigration papers worked on, and commune in our suburban sprawl of a house. My parents are oh so very different and illustrate the two sides of me. Take for instance my mother who is always on the phone encouraging others, pu...

The 20s is all about recognizing your own mortality. Every single time I write one of these posts, I start it out the same way. It's just a short fragment sentence. Death. I'm going to write it again and I want you to say it out loud when you read it this time. Death. Now one more time and breath it out as you say it. Death. Before writing this post I went back and read a couple of my previous posts tackling this topic and I have to say they instantly make me cry every single time. The emotion behind them, the raw unfiltered words and I can vividly remember writing each one. Take a look back before looking ahead at a rough one( We All Fall Down - Center of the Universe ). No matter how far we go, we always get pulled back down to Earth. I'm going to write this post in a stream of consciousness just typing with my eyes closed, my fingers crawling all over my keyboard making light tapping noises, and my headphones in. This post is going to be one of those that make be a l...