Nobody Likes You When You’re Twenty Three

Somehow I blinked and another year of life has gone by! I know it’s cliche but it really does feel like the time moves faster every year. Twenty two was one of my favorite years yet, full of so many big moments - graduating college, getting my first apartment, moving out of my childhood home, and so much more. It was also filled with a million amazing little moments that I am learning to appreciate more and more each day.

From what I’ve heard, twenty three can be a bit of a quirky year. Some people are still in school, some living at home, some moved out and transitioning to a new city/job. Regardless, it’s not really one of those ages people seem to care about or really like all that much. Honestly, most people I know say 23 is a pretty terrible year - but like many things, I take that as a challenge!! I’ve tried to show in the last few months since graduating that getting older and moving forward in life doesn’t have to be scary or inherently bad. To me, this period of life is truly what you make of it. I feel confident in saying I’m off to a great start and the best is yet to come.

Of course I couldn’t turn 23 without thinking of the Blink-182 song “What’s My Age Again?” and its iconic line “nobody likes you when you’re 23.” This song explores the idea of “acting your age” and what that even means. In a lot of ways, I feel my life is more “mature” - I’m not going out as much, I work 9-5, I recently became a cat mom, the list goes on. But as the more mundane parts of life try to take over, I also am constantly reminding myself to embrace the mess that is my early twenties. The perfect time to try new things, move new places, and make mistakes.

When I was about to graduate, I had this idea that I needed to change things about myself and my life to “act my age”. Things like taking out my belly button ring and finally turning on auto-capitalization for my texts. But what I quickly realized is that in trying to force myself to “act my age”, I would lose parts of myself that I enjoy and appreciate. (I did attempt to turn off auto-capitalization, and while it may sound dramatic, I really did feel like part of my personality had disappeared in my messages. Needless to say it’s back off now, though I do type in proper grammar for these posts) It’s funny the things we tie parts of our identity to, but to me it’s important to hold on to things that make me feel more like myself.

I’ve determined that 23 is about finding the balance between preparing for what’s next while savoring the now - knowing there will be years that I will have less free time, more people counting on me, and bigger priorities than just myself and my own happiness.

In my mind, this year is truly about me - doing the things I want, when I want to, with the people I truly care about. No longer entertaining those who don’t bring value to my life, no wasting time doing things that don’t bring me joy, and no more questioning myself because of the opinions of others. Maybe that’s why no one likes you when you’re 23: you stop caring whether they do or not.

Here’s to hoping 23 is a year filled with making more mistakes, cleaning up my own messes, and learning each and every day from the world around me.

Cheers to myself, I guess?

With love,

The Birthday Girl