25 Things on the 25th Year

Today I have turned the page to the beginning of my next chapter — chapter twenty-six — as yesterday was merely the introduction.

I’ll never forget how old I am because I have my birth year prominently tattooed on my arm…

I’m most frustrated of this inked decision because now I’ll never get the satisfaction of saying I’m 22 and having someone believe me when I’m actually 34; fingers crossed that, when this day comes, the person I tell is bad at math.

Photo by Juliane Liebermann on Unsplash

Throughout chapter twenty-five, my eyes were opened, and my perspective was shifted…which isn’t a graceful process.

I repeatedly met face-to-face with the ugliest parts of myself, while finding the true meaning of beauty and light on the opposing side.

I’m eager to see what awaits me on the 26th year, as I know, destruction and ruin be merely the road to metamorphosis.

25 Things Learned on the 25th Year

1. How to trust blindly

• “Suivre le Papillon Jaune” — “Follow the Yellow Butterfly”
• Something About Figs and Loving with Purpose
• Why Does Nothing Feel Right?
• Solace

2. Who I am, who I want to be, and how to fill the gap with a bridge

• Self

3. Why I am

• The Highest Room in the Tallest Tower
• Love in Emotional Immaturity

4. How to be patient…and passionately

• On My Way
• Spring/Summer ’23 Daydreaming
• Twelve Miracles Before 12:00 pm
• Remember to…
• Romance with the Sun
• ambiguity before 10:00 a.m.
• what the birds know
• Travelling the World in 3 Days
• The Sunday of Summer
• Fall ’23 Daydreaming

5. How to cook

• Food Struggles

6. About God

• Narrowly Trotted

7. The meaning of life and love

• On the Outside
• Friendship, Connection, Desire
• between snapdragons
• Something You Do
• When Love Isn’t Enough

8. How to love life, and finding the desire to be a part of it

• Julietta
• Two Life-Changing Questions to Add to Your Morning Routine
• the lights are on but no one’s home
• I Think if I Had Elevator Music Orchestrating My Life, I’d Be a Lot Happier
• Novelty
• Reality Turned Daydream

9. That I love pottery

10. How and when to let go of things that no longer serve me, my purpose, or my journey

• Losing My Best Friends of 5 Years

11. The magic in vital shots

12. Finding my personal style

• Material Items — When is it enough?
• Minimalism — The good, the bad, and the ugly

13. How to enjoy giving

• To Give and to Owe, in Receiving and in Resentment

14. What I do and don’t want from life

• Act XXV, Scene IV
• absolutions II
• Hungry for a Simple Life
• A Minimalist’s Minimal List
• If There’s No Place Like Home, What Happens If There Is No Place Like Home?
• Sultry
• Home
• immortality

15. How to communicate

• An Introvert on Conversation and Communication
• An Introvert on Communication
• Better Conversations Begin Within
• The Antidote to Dreadful Conversation
• Mental Minimalism
• On Being an Introvert
• The Book That Inspired Me to Become a Better Introvert

16. The appreciation for sparkling water

17. That I am enough and am worthy of good things, and have a place on earth with something grand to share with the world

• Neglecting Self-Appreciation

18. How to fulfill my personal needs for balance

• Resetting to Zero
• balanced diet
• 28 Things to Do Before Breakfast
• Self-Care Habits Tailored to Basic Daily Needs
• Nourishment

19. How to trust again

20. How to take my life back

• negative emotions
• Hugging a Cactus
• An Unproductive Morning Routine
• Showing Up for Life
• Magic in the Predictable

21. That getting help is brave, strong, and courageous

• help
• Using Birth Control for Depression

22. My lingering grudges and how to learn from them to set them free

• Pure, Unaltered Hatred

23. How to have true, undeniable and unshakable love for myself

• Of Love
• Seeing the Best in Others
• Coming Home to Yourself Pt. I
• Naturally Be-You-tiful

24. Where I was still lying to myself

• Order in the Court
• Humility

25. That everything really does happen for a reason, sometimes we just may not know why; perhaps we’re looking for the answers in all the wrong places or that it may not be the right time for our blindfold to drop

I debated on how to write this or even if I should write this at all…but as I not only reflect on the past, one of the most challenging years of my life, I reflect on my life as a whole; the time of my life that stands out most is when I was 19…when everything felt as if the end of the world, where I no longer wanted to be a part of the world at all…

And I’m starting to realize…that 19 was merely the beginning of the beginning.

You have to die a few times before you can really live. — Charles Bukowski

I just want you to know…there is no set time frame in which you must achieve, figure out, or understand anything.

There is merely the moment at hand and choices.

And the only thing we should ever be striving for is to be better than we were yesterday…so we can truly live in pure freedom.