29 years!
i’m turning 30 next week ! i’m really moved and excited to be reaching that age, the me 15 years ago wouldn’t have believed i’d even be achieving this milestone. there's so many fun things you can do on this earth and i’m glad i managed to stick around to realize that. but that’s for another journal entry - i'm looking back on my twenties !
a lot really can change in a decade, i’ve gone from a shut-in that always stayed in their room to someone that loves doing nothing in a park with my friends. career wise i've gone from music, art, to quitting all of that and getting an IT job that i hated the thought of doing (spoiler alert, but i actually find that fun now)
and the biggest change of all, i moved to an entirely different country that was never in my radar, with one of the most confusing languages i've ever heard of - french. i remember crying during the first couple of months cus i was struggling to get used to the change ! the difference in culture was so huge, i had to start things over from scratch, and looking for a job with my limited knowledge of the language was another struggle. i couldn't even see my friends and family in person !
it’s been three years since then. sometimes i’d have a convo with someone, and when we say goodbye i'd look at myself gagged because i managed to connect with them and get my thoughts across - in french !!!!! i've been slowly starting to like the language even, isn't that amazing ?
i learned a lot of lessons in my twenties, but i'd say two stood out to me the most: the first one is to just be open to doing stupid things you've never tried before. you learn a lot about your own tastes and discover new things you thought you'd ever be passionate about.
the second lesson is related and it's really learning to not be afraid to reach out and talk to people and strangers with the same interests and passions as you. i've made my best friendships that way ! i literally made my first closest friend in this country cus we both just happened to be next to each other lining up for beyonce two years ago LOL
sometimes that might not workout and it does happen you wont click with someone, that's life ! but if you take those chances, maybe you'll find the people that love you for being you. we're all social creatures. i love music and art, and having friends to yap about that makes me love it even more. i was extremely unsure switching my career to IT, but because i like the people I work with, i dared to give it a chance and found joy within it. i moved to a new country and married my wife because we both loved drawing, started talking to each other, and discovered we both have the same obsession for a certain tv show. at one point, i thought i wouldn't survive in france but i got the courage to fight for it thanks to my wife and my friends in my home country calling me to cheer me on - close friends i made just from sharing the same hobbies.
i did the first steps to get to a life i'm happy to be entering my thirties with, but i never would've gotten here without the help and kindness of so many friends, acquaintances, and even strangers. we're all linked to each other ! it's also pretty neat to learn to appreciate the love and kindness someone gives you, and vocally communicating that to spread the love back. that's also another lesson i liked.