Another Year Further Away

Friday it was my birthday. It's not often something I shout out about and so this post is an odd one for me. Personally I very much dislike being the centre of attention. I much prefer hiding away in the background and just nodding along rather than having everyone look at me. I like the parties and gathering with friends and family to celebrate but only when all eyes and attention isn't stone focused on me. I thought I might grow out of this as I got older but no. So instead I use my birthday as a day to just enjoy being me. Whatever that means. This year it means I am on the last day of my holiday and I am treating myself to food made for me, lunch with my family and then an evening meal out with a handful of friends. Because that is what I wanted to do. And that is the only thing about birthdays that I like.

It is my day to do what I like and everyone just accepts that. 

But that is not what I want to talk about today. Today I want to talk about how I am now 27 and life isn't exactly going to "plan" and how I've come to terms with it - sort of.

When I was a naive teenager and we talked about THE FUTURE, I was always sure that at 25 I would have a child. Not the normal way mind you - I have NEVER wanted to be pregnant - but I imagined that I would have adopted by now and be all settled down and enjoying life and looking after a loved one. I also believed that I would be with a guy and that we would be close if not actually married. Of course, I was just sixteen and unaware of what would happen but all I can think now is how far away I am from those things happening.

So far away in fact that I'm starting to wonder if they'll ever happen.

I still want a child or two and I still want to adopt. But because I want to adopt and not just have a baby the natural way, I know that it will be so much harder to do. I will have to prove that I am a GOOD person and that I am financially stable and that I can keep a roof over their heads. I have to show that I am basically not going to fuck up the childs life. And doing all of this without a partner? Yeah, I'll have to work twice as hard.

And at the moment I am so NOT READY for that. As you may have read last week, I just moved back to my mums so I am certainly not able to provide a roof for a child. I am also working two jobs in two towns that are TWO HOURS away from each other. I can't exactly continue doing that if I want a kid. And I cannot even fathom being financially stable. In this climax where it is staggeringly hard to get a job with a decent income to cover the expenses of ONE person let alone TWO just seems impossible in this financial climate. And if I can't keep my own head above the water, I certainly don't want to bring a child into the mix.

So yeah, the kid or kids will definitely not be happening soon. At the moment I can't even forsee it happening in the next three years which is actually making me pretty sad to think about.

Then there's the partner. As you may know, I am an asexual. Which should not effect my relationships but it does but because I don't feel COMFORTABLE with the idea of being in a relationship. I've always told myself that I just need to feel more settled in my life and then I can focus on the other half but now I'm worried I'll never be settled but also that it has been SO LONG since I was last in a relationship that I won't be a good girlfriend anyway. I like my independence and freedom too much to even imagine someone else filling a room. I want to find love, I do. But I also feel like I don't need it to complete me. So I'm not exactly LOOKING. So who knows if that will ever happen. And then when it does, how do I let them down by admitting that I will never want sex. Who would want a partner like that?

So yeah, no marriage on the horizon either. (Although I also don't know anymore that I even want to get married anyway)

So none of my plans have happened.

I am 27 and I am living with my mum. I am 27 and I don't have a career. I am 27 and I have no savings. 

But I am also 27 and enjoying my independence and freedom. I am 27 and I have my own business. I am 27 and I am more or less happy. 

I am 27 and I have hopes for the future.

So I'm not where I wanted or expected to be but that's okay because I'm still alive and I'm still on a journey and I am sure that one day things will come together. Maybe not as I always imagined, but maybe it'll be better.

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The Last Year of My 20's

It's here. The final year of me being in my twenties. 

The last couple years, I've hardly noticed the age I am. Mostly because my age hasn't really been on my mind or if it has it because people don't quite believe my actual age when I tell them. Being sick since I was 22 meant that my birthdays weren't really celebrated like the used to be. I didn't go out drinking or clubbing like I did in my university years, I felt too unwell to do that or I didn't want to risk being sick afterwards. And as my IBD developed and became harder to treat, I was just too damn tired to want to celebrate. 

This year, well, I want to do something.

The thing is, I don’t know what.

I always felt pressurised to want to do something on my birthday, every year, since I can remember. And whilst sickness got in the way, I was glad I was too unwell to do anything huge and planned and ‘epic’. That specific pressure has gone – meaning that I don’t let it control me as much as I used to; a silver lining cloud to living with a chronic illness, I guess – but it’s been replaced with an age specific one.

NEXT YEAR I WILL BE THIRTY.

Thirty; when I was a young eighteen, felt like a million years ago. Slowly but surely, time ticked on and its next year now.

I feel the pressure to have my life together and settled down by then.

I feel the pressure to have a plan on what I am going to do and everything like that.

I feel some pressure to make a life with my partner now; it’s been five years already.

And whilst some of those things definitely spur me on to get on with my life – my new life now with my ostomy makes those things ‘achievable’ – the others make me sad.

I don’t feel close to thirty. I don’t feel or look my age. Why is that a bad thing, again?

Thirty seems to be the age when your life should be sorted and you’re working towards later life. But I’m only just now starting to find my career path. I am only just moving away from my family home. I am only just beginning my life with a new sort-of anatomy. For me, life is beginning now and it is not going to be sorted and settled by the time next year rolls around. But still, there is the pressure. It’s a dull throb in the back of my head. It mostly goes away but when it is right up there, causing me metaphorical pain; I listen to it. When I know I shouldn’t.

What is perceived to be ‘normal’ and ‘done by this age and time in life’ is bullshit. I spent my twenties unsure of myself and my life, then sick and wondering how on earth I was going to get my life back together again. I would compare myself and my lack of achievements to those of all my university acquaintances. It did not make me feel better, but it was a hard cycle to break. People kept achieving big life goals – marriage, buying houses, kids, new careers and promotions – and all I did was bounce from pointless job to pointless job with some stints in hospital in between.

What I do know now is that it takes some personal strength and resilience to stand up for yourself and not let other achievements get you down. You have plenty of your own goals to set and smash. You have plenty of time to figure things out, it doesn’t happen overnight, there is no quick fix. But! Hard work, determination and belief will get you far. They will help you go far.

And so what, if by the time I’m thirty I’m still not ticking all those big life goals?

I’ve got my own goals. Smashing them in my own slow and steady way.

It was the tortoise who won the race, after all.

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Now that I'm 26

Last Friday it was my birthday, technically I was born 5 days early so today *should* have been my birthday if I'd not been so terribly eager twenty-six years ago. I have to say I'm not sure how I feel about being 26, I'm now past the quarter century and I'm kinda worried that I still don't feel like I have all my shit together. Heck, I *know* I'm a mess but I'd rather like for it not to be so obvious to everyone else.

This cake kinda represents my life rn

Some of my fav Youtube humans have done wonderful videos on their birthdays called "X things I have learned in X years" depending on whether they're turning 24, 25 or 26 etc. Rosianna Halse Rojas did this one last year, Lex Croucher did hers earlier this year and Charlie McDonnell did his last week when he turned 26 (it's odd to think he's only 6 days older than me).

I'm not doing a similar list today, mostly because my memory is sufficiently terrible that I don't think I can string together 26 things that the last quarter century and a smidge have taught me.

Instead I'm going to list 26 Hopes I have for the next year.

Now I'm 26 I hope...
1. That the world doesn't end in November (I know I'm not the only one)
2. That I am able to complete my degree by next July.
3. That I can get a 2:1 in that degree
4. That I can get a job I enjoy & which isn't a chore to get up for
5. That I can figure out what is going on with my health
6. That I can then start to feel better
7. That I can have lots of fun adventures with my friends
8. That I can also have lots of adventures with my OH
9. That we can properly celebrate 5 years together next June
10. That my loved ones are safe and happy
11. That I have the ability to finish a worthy draft of my book
12. That I have the courage to share that book with others
13. That I can find the magic to write another book
14. That I can meet & befriend more like-minded people
15. That I can be a good friend to those in my life already
16. That I can become a better person than I am today.
17. That I can feel happy with the choices I make
18. That I can feel happy in my body & my head
19. That I can learn to be kinder to myself
20. That I can find the passion to pursue my dreams
21. That I can weather the knock-backs during that pursuit
22. That I read books that inspire me
23. That I can meet some more of my favourite authors
24. That I remember to be grateful for everything I have
25. That I always tell those who matter to me how much I appreciate them.
26. I hope that my 27th birthday will be spent with those I love.

So that's a rather eclectic mix of things that I hope will come to pass during the next year of my life. I know some of those are dependent on chance & opportunity but many of them will only be possible if I make them happen myself. I have be more active in creating my own happiness. No one is going to just give me the spell to magic my life into its best possible configuration. I'm going to have to work for it. So next time you see me bitching about "why isn't x, y or z happening?" ask me if I've actually *done* anything to make it a reality.

Now I'm 26... maybe I need to start acting like it. (at least in some respects, there's no need to go full-blown grown-up y'know?)

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