About

Our twenties. The time that was marketed to us as the “best years of our lives.” The time that was marketed to us as the most carefree and high-energy moments of our lives. I don’t know about you, but I can’t say that’s quite been my experience thus far. I must add that I’m currently sitting at 50% percent of the way there, though so far, the waters have been much murkier and choppier than I ever envisioned. Of course, a sudden pandemic didn’t help. However, even without that, I think I would have found it almost just as difficult to navigate.

Maybe I’m alone in this, though I doubt it, but for the first time, it feels like there’s no metric for you to meet as each year passes. Yet you still feel behind, slow, or as if you are headed in the wrong direction – that is, if you even know which direction you want to go. If you do, I commend you. Please tell me how you figured that out! I’m not sure what your community viewpoint looks like, but I can assure you mine is all over the place. Although we all may be in our 20s, we all stand in varying places than the people next to us. Some people are moving to another country, some people are married, some are divorced or recently un-engaged. Some are working at top Fortune 500 companies, and some are getting their first real job. Some people hate their job or their industry, and some people can see themselves working at their company for 15 years. Some people are just entering their first relationship and realizing the concept of family sounds nice someday, while some are leaving a relationship they never thought would end, and some are having or already have kids. Some people are on the cover of Forbes, and some people are testifying before a judge about their actions. Some people are making millions as internet personalities, while some people are “looking for work” on LinkedIn. Some people feel no pressure of time whatsoever, but others are worried about checking every box before the year ends. Some people feel accomplished after discovering a basic life skill, while others feel unaccomplished despite seemingly having it all together.

I don’t know about you, but the fact that this is all happening in the same phase of life is beyond me. I find myself looking around, wondering how far behind I am or if I’m going too fast in one department, yet too slow in another. At the end of the day, I know I’ve done a lot in these few years – yet I still feel unaccomplished and lost at the same time. I know we all share the commonality of trying to push through these years unscathed, standing on our own two feet after every pitfall. By no means do I have any of this figured out. I have officially adopted the mindset of the “throw everything at the ceiling and see what sticks” approach to life as I go into this next year. Some may call it “giving up,” and some may call it “being ambitious.” I think I’ll call it “figuring it out and being down for anything.”

Our So-Called 20s is part of this model. At the same time, I hope that my sharing lessons learned and advice will help someone like you take one step closer to getting through the muck of our 20s. Again, I’m still figuring it all out myself, but the 50% I’ve endured might just help someone get through their next 10%. And that is time well spent.

My hope is that this becomes a community and a resource for many. Although I am beyond grateful for the generations before us, and many of their lessons have helped propel me to my next destinations, we all know our 20s are much different than their 20s. My thought is that helping one another through this modern world hand-in-hand, rather than against one another, might just make this whole thing a tad bit easier. With that in mind, welcome to Our So-Called 20s. We’re excited to have a new, yet familiar, face around.