Turning 21 is a bit mad. All I’ve heard about getting just that little bit older is a reiteration of how much harder things get, and how much more complicated things become. And I see it, I’ve felt it, but I’ve also felt something much more – which allows me to do much more than just accept the doom of aging.
With entering adulthood, and living as we know it, comes the insufferable demand of responsibility. But also, choice.
Of what your responsible for are things all too familiar, things I remember worrying about before they became real enough to worry about: work, education, skill, love, contracts, sex, deadlines, health, bills, relationships, money. Living just got complicated, but did it? That’s what we’re told, it’s we’re shown, and how we live. So, change that narrative.
I’ve found that as everything becomes more difficult, I become less so. In my 21 years on this earth, the mystery of my soul is ever unfolding and each year that passes is another year of me getting to know myself. I know what I like and what I don’t. What I stand for and what I won’t. I’ve curated my wants and needs, and I have a grasp on my pride and purpose.
For the last two decades, I’ve grown older with myself. And I seem to know more about myself every day. In that sense, my life is getting easier, not harder. My capabilities are well established within me and expressed in how I am today. There is trust there, and that is peace.
If you find yourself wanting to experience this level of trust, know that my harmony is my reward. It was granted to me by my willingness to know the entirety of who I am at my core, at the cost of my immediate peace. Petal by petal, I’m uncovering my truth and in return it breathes onto me: life. I come in two. There is my soul, and then me.
My soul is a place I happen to visit a lot; it is my greenhouse. Here, lies my genuine. And a peek into the window of my greenhouse is only possible when I laugh, otherwise it is hidden from all except me.
Once you tune into who you are in the places you cannot see, but you can visit, you begin to live in the chance; the chance you’ve taken to get to know your truest self.
It’s all so simple when you understand why. In the chaos of getting older, gaining more knowledge and experiences, there is forever space to explore and try and realise new things. Now, I’m content with where I am and what I know. I like this simple life, this age of 21, this age of simplicity.
‘Petal by petal, I’m uncovering my truth and in return it breathes onto me: life. I come in two. There is my soul and then me.’