On turning 30...

Yesterday, I met my former co-worker for coffee, and I was musing about how far away that whole experience of that job feels, in comparison with how much time has actually passed. I've only been out of the office for less than two weeks, but it feels as if months have unfolded. It's amazing to me how much everything shifts when your routine is completely broken up.

I was also musing about how strange it is to be on my own schedule these days. For better or worse, my identity for the past five years has been, in part, wrapped up in that job - and now I get to figure out something else. It's good and exciting - and still very very strange.

And, in the middle of all this philosophizing, I turn 30 today.

When I think about it, I can't help but feel a bit awe-struck by how much my life has shifted in the past few weeks to alleviate any thoughts of becoming old and stuck.

Our apartment right now is a disaster zone, as we sift through piles of stuff and clear out the trappings of past lives to get ready for our upcoming cycling adventure. Somehow, in the middle of all this, 30 doesn't feel quite so monumental or loaded with meaning. I don't need to sit and fret over what I want to change or what this milestone signifies. I just get to enjoy the fact that great new opportunities await - and that is the best birthday present ever.


(Me, on my birthday, probably about two decades ago)