I’ve now reached the age (22) I wanted to be when I reached the age I had previously wanted to be (16).
In many ways, it is exactly as exciting as I always knew it would be: each month holds a new experience to learn from, a new connection to make, a new avenue of curiosity to indulge. At the same time, there is a looming pressure. Time, which I spent with whimsy and impatience in my childhood, has now become a precious resource, perhaps even more valuable than money, as I work to build the life I always dreamed of.
This is the biggest difference about the moment of life I find myself in: for the first time, I feel that I not only know what I want, but am capable of making it happen. I’ve finally lived just enough to be in the sweet spot between energized ambition, unrestrained capacity, and the lightness of only being responsible for myself.
It's both exhilarating and terrifying.
If our life is a series of complex stages created by our circumstances, jobs, passion projects, social circles, obligations, reactions, dependencies, emotions, and more—