The age of the internet: a fascinating and frustrating time to be alive. On the one hand, we have so much at our fingertips. I can answer any question I have, chat with friends who are miles away, swipe right on cute men, and stay connected with what is happening in the lives of those closest to me. Yet, somehow I never feel satisfied. What at times is a blessing is at other times a curse. I find that people are less curious about the unknown, I catch myself comparing my life to the picture-perfect version of others, I lose hours to a screen, I filter through gross men and not-so great forced dates, and I know unimportant information about people that I have never been very close to.
What are we doing here?
I have decided that my twenties are a time for personal discovery and growth; part of that journey will be to write about and document my experiences. Recently having moved back to the big city after living and working in a National Park and then a ski resort in a beautiful town in the middle of nowhere, I am noticing things I never noticed before and finding the adjustment to be strange. The internet and social media has been and will be a major part of my life. Now, I am going to use it as a platform to reexamine the world we live in and how we interact with it (and also to share this blog).
Being in your 20s is an awkward time; I could argue it is worse than Junior High. We are expected to be adults yet still treated like children in a lot of social situations. We are expected to be educated, find a job, have lots of friends, figure out dating, and make the most of being young while not doing anything too stupid. These tasks seem so simple… right? That is until you start trying to do them. Where do you start? What should your priorities be; the career, the boy, the girls, the promise of the weekend, achieving the highest education? It is a balancing act that takes time to figure out.
This is especially true in a big city. Where I was living before, there were four local hangouts. It was so easy to meet people and know you would see them again. The problem was that it was difficult to make a living, because most of the jobs were seasonal and/or didn’t pay much, forcing many college educated young adults to have multiple jobs. Further, if you had a bad romantic experience, you saw that person everywhere, and if you used online dating apps, you knew everyone that came across your screen. Some people are okay with those things, but I, personally, need more stability and a little more space for myself. In the city, the options are endless. This is great for the job hunt and the potential of finding a special someone, but, sadly, there is no guarantee the cute boy you saw on the dance floor will ever cross your path again or the girl you met out on Friday night will ever be able to grab coffee or brunch, and you will be forced to go through a lot of interviews before actually landing the dream job. Then, there is the fact that it is not socially acceptable to walk up to strangers at the bar and tell them you want to be friends, or to walk into a corporate office and tell them you want to be hired.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind getting back into a rhythm among the traffic, lights, and buzz of the city. I have joined my church choir (which is amazing by the way), a soccer league, and started going to trivia at a local bar on Tuesdays. I have met lots of people and am working to keep tabs and doors open. I still find myself, all too often, going to a bar alone on a Friday night just to try to be slightly social and possibly meet a friendly face. Meeting people is not always the problem, but it is following through and actually seeing them more than once. One thing about living in a big city is that people have busy lives. The pace of life is much faster and more inflexible than in small towns and wide open places. I hope to bring some of what I learned these past 6 months living in small towns back to the city. I don’t want the rush of life to overtake. I don’t want to forget to slow down, take a day to read, go on a walk, or just sit alone with my thoughts; it is too easy to get swept away and not even notice life go by. These are supposed to be some of the best years, right? Well, we have to be intentional about making them that way.
This is the beginning of a new personal project.
If you are reading this, thanks! Just know that my life is not any more special than yours or the person next to you. I am just one of a bunch of 20-something year olds trying to find their way in this crazy world. May we all learn to have fun, live our lives to the fullest, and create the best version of ourselves!
Well, here goes nothing.
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