Youthful Life: X

The 20s are all about building your network. There worst thing that can happen to you in life is to be disconnected from those that matter to you most. There's absolutely nothing more isolating then to lose a connection. That's what we do as people. We connect, interact, dialogue, touch, feel and commingle. It's that necessity of knowing that you're not alone. Solace, solitude, and silence are our downfall. Preservation of ourselves and others is sustained through our relationships. This is missed connections.  There was MadTV skit that had the best characters describe themselves on a dating game show (you know things people did before swiping right on tinder) called " Lowered Expectations ." Obviously the characters were all colossal messes of the most epic proportions and their finicky descriptions were totally hilarious. My favorite one was Deborah Johnson playing her iconic bipolar aggressive-aggressive "race-card pulling" (as if that's ...

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 are all about embracing change. Other than ourselves changes the one constant thing in our lives. Change comes whether we like it or not. Sometimes it's for better and other times it's for worse, but it comes nonetheless. Change doesn't ask you to do it work but it does ask you to come along for the ride. Change happens with or without your permission. Change is whatever you make of it, so make it work for you. Everything changes. This is your new normal. This year absolutely everything has changed. C.S. Lewis said it best, "Things never happen the same way twice," and boy was he right. Every year of my college experience has been drastically different. The one consistent thing is that I've never ever felt settled in both who I was and who my friends were. This year that has been true a certain extent with my friendships still in flux, but I know who I am for once. I know who I am not. I know what is right for me. It is the most empowering thing I...

The 20s are all about being popular. Yup, you read that right. It may or may not be the shallowest, most superficial, and completely basic thing I've ever started out with, but bear with me. Not just in the classical sense of the word - that is well-liked or renowned, but finding the popularity within yourself. Creating your own social scene. Becoming the center of the craze sweeping your campus. Starring in the witty banter filled rom-com known as your life. Life may just be a popularity contest. College is the craziest place. Everyone's perceptions we all are as so skewed so let me clear the air (*Drake voice - that felt good). You do not, you cannot, nor will you ever know my story. You may know bits and pieces, but on the grand scheme of things you know nothing about most people. We operate on this "understanding" (that is minimal facts and outlandish assumptions) of who people are and when we discover people are different than how we've fashioned them to...