Today is the start of a new year.
Twenty-five came and went in what seemed like a single heartbeat, leaving me at the doors of twenty-six before I could really even get used to saying I was a quarter of a century old.
A lot has happened since June 22, 2015. And yet some things are still the same. For the first time since I was seventeen, I have lived in the same place for two birthdays and have made my own little home up here in Boston. I still feel like one year is a really long time to be in one place, so I definitely have the itch to go off traveling the world once again (once my savings will allow… my bucket list is getting far too long to be able to accommodate everything I want to do in one lifetime)!
But one year is also a long time to learn a lot of new things, especially when that one year entailed settling into a new city, starting a new job, and making new friends. Something in particular that I have learned is that I love making lists and so, on my 26th birthday, I’m sharing 26 things I learned as a 25 year old (with my favorite 26 pictures as visual embellishment, of course!):
1. Moving doesn’t solve all of life’s problems. In fact it solves very few of them and creates a handful more. But moving also makes you realize all the things you are grateful for: family, friends, comfort food, and beautiful new places to adventure in.
2. Bostonians are the worst drivers in the world (sorry Boston friends). Having driven regularly in three countries and seven states, I feel qualified to make this judgment.
3. Traffic brings an unfortunate and downright scary side of me. A side that requires a full two minute breathing exercise and detox routine when I get home so I don’t storm fuming-angry into the house, ready to break the first thing my hands touch. I have now learned to only take back roads wherever I go.
4. Rhode Island does actually exist!
5. New York City is one of the greatest places on earth. If I could afford to move there, I would be living there yesterday. Things happen on a grand scale there and the city is alive with excitement, creativity, and culture. It speaks to my blood!
6. Chalk paint and gold spray paint make everything prettier.
7. Reupholstering furniture is easier than you would think.
8. Regina’s Pizza in the North End has the best pizza in the world.
9. There’s no place like home, wherever you decide and want that to be. For me, that is and always will be Arkansas.
10. Thrift stores in New England are enormously superior to thrift stores elsewhere in the United States.
11. The night before trash day is like Christmas. Or a treasure hunt… probably more like a treasure hunt… But it certainly feels like Christmas when you find a vintage sewing machine or two matching $500 bookshelves tossed on the curbside! My roommate Emily and I have taken to driving the streets Sunday and Monday nights “trash-ure hunting” for some good finds. Yesterday we found a fully functioing piano. Unfortunately we had no way of getting it home and sadly it will probably find itself in the city dump today. Sometimes I can’t believe how wasteful people are.
12. New England is called New England for a reason. The Brits didn’t stray too far from their comfort zone when they decided to settle here, which I can understand. With such a beautiful landscape, who would want to leave?
13. I still don’t like seafood. Please don’t tell me it’s because “I haven’t tried the right seafood” or ask me if I’ve tried “____ type of fish.” If I don’t like it in Boston (or Italy, or all the other places I’ve consumed various types of fish), it’s just one of those things. Pass the steak instead, please.
14. Sunday afternoons spent crafting and sewing is one of the highlights of my week.
15. This year, I’ve also discovered a love for dress- and costume-making! Hopefully one of these days I’ll actually be good at it!
16. Driving in the rain is a skillset specific to those residing in the south and the pacific northwest. As a footnote, I have also learned that in Boston, even if it’s only sprinkling, being on time to work requires leaving thirty minutes earlier than normal.
17. Still terrified of driving in the snow.
18. Everything is figure-out-able! Or, where there’s a will, there’s a way. My dad is a master at this and I have always admired that about it. But this year I learned it’s not a skill set specific to only a few people. Everything is figure-out-able by everyone who has a desire to learn and try new things.
19. I have grown to hate leftovers, which I fully recognize and accept is a really snooty thing to say. Something about a microwaved meal just kills my appetite.
20. I have come to realize that I’m opinionated. Somehow I made it through almost 26 years of life without realizing this, so for all those people I opinion-ed at in the past, I hope I didn’t crush your heart and make you regret being my friend!
21. Mike’s Pastries makes the only cannoli I have ever craved. Just imagine a florentine cookie, rolled up with cannoli filling and dipped in chocolate chips, and you will be running to the North End right along with me.
22. Turns out, you can’t actually “pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd”. But you can park it pretty close.
23. Kia customer service is the most unpleasant customer service department. Ever. If I elaborate on this, I might break into a storm of unadulterated fuming, so I will spare you the infuriating details.
24. One of the most important things you will do in your life is to keep in touch with the people that mean the most to you. I can’t tell you how many quotes I’ve seen that say something to the effect of “best friends are the one’s who can go years without speaking to each other, but when they do talk, it’s like not a day has gone by”. I recently had the opportunity to reconnect with one of my best friends for the first time in over two years. Our communication in between those two years were sporadic texts and maybe a phone call or two. Unbeknownst to either of us, we were both going through incredibly difficult times in our lives at almost the same time. How much better would it have been for us if we could have worked through it together?
25. I will always feel at home in the forest. I am not and will never be someone who will be happy in a dessert. Sorry desert dwellers. It’s just not in me.
And last, but not of course not least, number 26:
26. Anything that was worth it was never easy. There have been many, many times over the last year where I have been frustrated and brought to tears. This has been the case many times throughout my life and I know throughout the lives of every person who has walked on this earth. As commonplace as this is, though, it seems to be something that I never stop learning. I have learned that if life was easy, we would never grow, and we would never have dreams worthy of achieving. One of the greatest feelings in this life is to finally reach a goal you have given everything you could give to accomplish it.
None of these are groundbreaking discoveries, by any means, but I like to think that at the end of my life, all the little discoveries will add up to a life well-lived. Until then, here’s to hoping that 26 brings me one year closer to the best me I could possibly be.
Yours,
Leave A Comment