Ok, those of you who are older may now laugh that I find 25 momentous. No, go ahead, get it out of the way. Finished? Ok, good.
So, as I was saying… a quarter century… That used to seem so old. Really, truly, properly adult. I think that right up until this year, I’ve been waiting to feel like a grown-up. Now I think that I’m going to throw in the towel. A few weeks ago, while pulling out stray eyebrow hairs, I got a close-up of my eyes in the mirror. And there, at the quarter of the left eye, was an unmistakable, honest-to-goodness wrinkle. Yes, a crowsfoot. I have a job, a 5-year relationship, a (quasi) grown-up apartment, and a crowsfoot, but still don’t have that warm fuzzy feeling of all-knowing. And at 25 I have much less of an idea what I’m going to do with my next 5 years than I did at 20. At 20, I pretty much had everything all figured out. Of course, I’ve revised my plan umpteen million times since then, but each time I’ve been confident with my new and shiny life plan. Now… well, now that I’m about to be in my mid-twenties… I really don’t know. I still come up with plans. (Lots of ‘em.) But I can’t quite shake an awareness that life might digress from them. Maybe that’s what it means to be a grown-up? (Cue nauseatingly sweet realization music, swelling.)
Keep an eye out for upcoming reviews of anti-aging creams.
Luke | 19-May-06 at 11:49 am | Permalink
I agree and sympathise with you Ruth, I hit the big 30 in a couple of weeks and am feeling…terrified? No, perhaps that’s too strong, I think it’s more like a creeping sense of panic. What have I achieved? How many school friends do I remember? When am I supposed to settle down and start a family (ouch!)? When I think that my parents were a lot younger than me when they got married and had kids, it kind of spins my head. It’s so true that your 20s are a blur. I hope the 30s are slow enough to enjoy…