Things to Remember in Our 20s

So the base idea for my blog is this feeling of being in Limbo. That we haven't yet started real life. I try to keep non-craft or -education related life experiences out of this blog, but this is relevant.



Thanksgiving is always a huge homecoming. Everyone from our graduating class comes back to town at least once in a while. We meet up with people we haven't seen in a year, or longer. And when special events happen, as are wont to happen all at once sometimes, you see people you haven't had a chance to catch up to in person since graduation.

We are the generation who was told, "Go to college. You can be anything you want to be. Get a degree, and the world is yours!"

We are the graduating class of '05. We have degrees. And then some. We have experience. We have cars (courtesy of our parents, mostly). And we have jobs. Not careers. Jobs. Some of us are doing better than others. Some of us have apartments. Some of us have career plans. Some have families and houses.

But overall, we're all in the same boat.

At a friend's engagement party this weekend we found ourselves sitting a room we've sat in so many late nights. A room we played Risk in until the wee hours of the morning. A room we took pictures in before school dances. A room we were last all in right after graduation.

The conversations started out with the normal, "Oh my god, it's been ages! How are you? What are you doing now?"

Between the "Where do you live now?" and the "What are you doing now?" we progressed into real conversations about our jobs, splitting into groups to discuss like-interests.

Many of us had gone into education of some sort, and the other prominent conversations involved technology and office jobs.

There was a lot of "well, I got my degree in _______, but now I'm doing _______" or "It wasn't what I planned, but I kinda fell into ________."

My mom says this is normal. That most people don't end up in their "dream job" from high school. Ok, fine. We all seem to be doing well in our chosen professions, and nobody's job was a surprise to anyone who knew them well.

Conversations continued. Then, abruptly, "Wow. I feel old. We're all sitting here, having adult conversations..."

This started the transition into talking about high school. Feeling older, because graduation was almost 8 years ago. Most of us had known each other since 7th grade. Some, longer.
Reminiscing about high school stories lead to more talk of what we're doing now, and how we've changed.

Just puts me in a rambling, reflective mood. Which was emphasized by this article I happened to see today.

If you are a 20-something, lost in limbo, I fully recommend you read this article: 21 Ways You Should Take Advantage of Your 20s.

Reading this really helped. It put things back into perspective.

The ones that hit me hard were the ones about staying out late, throwing crazy parties, indulging in things, and not investing in decorating your house.

I've been lame. I was in a secure relationship that looked like it was leading to marriage, and I stopped having fun the way a 20-something should. I stopped wanting to party and stay up late. I started wanting to decorate my house, have a house... I planned my life in such detail that every piece of wall-art was picked out in my brain. And I have to admit, Pinterest puts a lot of stress on us to DO everything we think about, especially as pertaining to houses. And this, me, acting older than was necessary, might have been a strong factor in the ending of that "secure" relationship.

Danielle came to town for President's Day weekend. Yea, she came for her Bridal Shower and that was a grown up "theme" party that we had a lot of fun attending. But afterwards, we spent the day together. It ended in me meeting one of her male friends from college, and spending the night with drinks and appetizers, followed by coffee and friends, and a late night romp in the new playground. Everything we grew up doing at night in our little city, including standing around in parking lots because we couldn't decide what to do next. This foray into the past helped wake me up out of my stupor. I got hit on. I laughed. I stayed out late. I did stupid things. I swang on swings! I had FUN.

The next weekend, I had coworkers over for pizza and movies.

Last night, I went out with the girls to Palo Alto. We hit a bar, a pub, and a club. We picked up random strangers. We stayed out until the bars shut down. And we kept up with Lauren's younger sister and her friends.