The inevitable happened a few weeks ago
I turned 30.
If you ask me if I feel any different
I would say no.
Blowing out some candles is
not as life-changing as we seem to expect it to be.
But if I thought back to when I was in my early 20s, a lot has changed since then.
In my early 20s, I thought 30 was so old.
I thought that if you hadn't achieved x, y, and z by age 30 then you hadn't really done
anything with your life and that was it.
Nothing exciting seemed to happen after 30 and I was worried about running out of time.
When I was 23 I had an instructor during a practicum placement who was in his 30s ask
me if I thought 30 was old.
I unabashedly responded that yes, I did think it was old, and by extension, I thought he
was old.
He had looked knowingly at his colleague as if to say, I told you so.
As I approached my 30th birthday, however, I realized that I no longer feel that way.
It didn’t make sense, I didn’t FEEL as old as I thought I would be, so how could
I be old?
Either I wasn’t turning 30 or 30 wasn’t old.
By the way, I can hear the exasperated sighs and eye rolls from everyone over the
age of 30 who are thinking, just you wait, but bear with me.
During this time, I started to notice how so many people were still achieving things,
doing things they wanted to do way past the age of 30.
I noticed all the people that didn’t fit the age-related expectations and stereotypes.
Everyone was telling me that everything went downhill after 30, but I was cautiously optimistic.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my twenties.
I’ve met wonderful people, I’ve travelled to many places, I’ve tried a lot of new
things.
I’ve learned a lot: about the world, about other people, and about myself.
But I’m also excited to continue to do all of this in my thirties.
Turning 30 is not a before and after, not a delineation of relevance and irrelevance,
not the beginning of the descent.
It’s just a point on the continuum of your life and I can’t wait to continue.