It’s been A WHILE since I blogged but I figured it was time to make my once-a-year appearance. Here’s to 2021. Anyway... let’s get into it.
Happy Birthday to me! 25 trips around the sun. I feel thankful, grateful & blessed in many ways. But there’s one thing I have to say. This growing up stuff is pretty...how-you-say...
underwhelming?
If you asked 12-year-old Nicole what 25-year-old Nicole was doing with her life, she would probably be irrevocably shocked that I wasn’t a Rockette getting ready to retire from Radio City with 6 golden retrievers and a loft in California.
Sorry kid.
But that kid-like mentality that I once knew so well is oftentimes hard to find. And let’s face it, most days I could use the carelessness and creativity of a child’s mind more than ever.
(Spoil alert: Everybody has the little-kid version of themselves, somewhere inside.)
ANYWAY - The other morning I was on the phone with Shannon, one of my longest best friends. We were having a not-so-serious conversation, cracking ourselves up as per usual. But this one part lingered after we hung up:
Shannon: “I thought by now I would feel like I’m an adult, but yet I still procrastinate getting an oil change like I did in high school."
Me: “SERIOUSLY. Cars take olive oil, right?"
Shannon: “Oh yeah, If the car starts smoking you went too far. But seriously, I thought one day it would just click that we were adults and we would feel different."
And that tiny snippet of conversation (sorry if you lost brain cells reading that, we think we are hilarious) brings me to my point.
I used to think as I got older--more specifically as I became an "adult”--that one day it would just CLICK, like Shannon said. Like I would FEEL the adult-ness running through my veins; an overwhelming sense of maturity and responsibility would pour down on me, undeniably noticeable. I would walk down the street and people would whisper and point, “Yup, look at her, she’s an adult!”
Sounds dramatic, sure. But that’s what I always imagined it would be like. And did it ever happen? Nope.
and my realization is that it never will. And that’s when something else clicked.
So where am I going with this? To be honest I dont really know. But what I do know is...
if 2+2=4...Then nobody ever really grows up. Our youth will always be there. You just need to dig deep and embrace your inner innocence.
Now I know it’s not that deep. But if you’re waiting around to “feel” different, or to hit a bench march at a certain age, you’re going to be waiting forever.
“To not dance while you had the health and could hear the music could be the biggest regret of your life."
While you’re out in the world adult-ing, don't forget to “play" with your inner child, because they never left you. Stay curious and stay questioning things around you. Treat yourself to dessert before dinner. Mess up your bedtime routine a little, just because you want to stay up and color. All of these corny & cliche things help us keep our youth; they are so simple to accomplish because the little kid in you is really simple to please.
Cheers to never growing up.
Xoxo,
Nicole
