But today I’m talking about a different type of closure. In a few short weeks I’ll be closing out my 20′s. That’s right, I’ll be 30. Woo-hoo!

Plot twist: I’m crying inside…

It comes as a bit of a shock to me. Captain obvious says I should have seen it coming but I really didn’t plan this far ahead. I assumed I’d be dead by now. (Not to sound ungrateful. I’m very happy to not be dead.) It’s just…insane. It’s insane.

Not insane because 30 is old but insane because nine years ago at the start of my 20′s I was in a different city, a different apartment and it feels like yesterday. Most of my 20′s were spent minding my own business mixed in with occasional moments spent embarrassing the fuck out of myself.

Anyone who tells you that their 20′s were all hearts and bubbles is straight up lying. At times things worked out perfectly, other times I fell flat on my face. My greatest source of stress and heartbreak was from pursuing things and people that weren’t meant to be. Eventually it would all work out. Only I didn’t know that then. 

All of this mixed in with my ‘I’ll figure it out later’ philosophy made for a perfect adorably tragic combination.

Thinking back makes me realize how unique each one of our experiences are. Not unique as in special but unique as in words could never truly capture the way each one of us experience our lives. I couldn’t list the moments that transformed me from who I was 10 years ago to who I am today.

Everything felt like practice. There were times I floated, times I crawled humbly. There was a lot of dancing. A lot of laughing. Time has a way of passing both in front of your eyes and behind your back. It was infinite. It was fleeting. And in fucked up sense, it was perfect.  

But let’s face it, that’s not just your 20′s, that’s life. 

When We Were Young:

You did it! You are truly amazing!

Graduations always make me a little sappy. I love the thought of a new bright-eyed-bushy-tailed generation stepping out into the world all growns up and shit. And this year my sappiness is at a whole new level since my little brother is graduating from college. So for what it’s worth I’d like to offer a few bits of advice: 

Move outside your comfort zone. Not figuratively. Literally relocate. Pick somewhere far enough from home, somewhere that both scares and excites you. Nothing builds character like spending two-thirds of an entry-level income on a tiny studio apartment, struggling with bags of groceries on a packed train and meeting the eclectic mix of people a city has to offer. It’s a crash course in transitioning from college student to full fledged functioning adult.

Do some fucked up shit. Not ‘ruin your life’ fucked up, just ‘I don’t think I’m ever going to tell another person about this’ fucked up.

Follow your dreams with persistance but don’t be an arrogant asshole. Get lost, get brokenhearted, spend all your money. Find yourself, fall in love again, start saving. Know that you don’t know shit, that right there will make you a little wiser than the rest. Be more like you and less like them. Listen to advice but be careful what advice you take, including this.

Sincerely-lots of love-your friend forever and eva,

Jamie

P.S. Everyone who has their ‘act together’ is faking it.

And Now For Some Inspiring Commencement Speech Quotes:

“I hope you’ll make mistakes. If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something. And the mistakes in themselves can be useful. I once misspelled Caroline, in a letter, transposing the A and the O, and I thought, Coraline looks like a real name …” – Neil Gaiman, University of Art 2012

“If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.” – Sheryl Sanberg, Harvard Business School 2012

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love.” – Steve Jobs, Standford 2005

“So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned.” – JK Rowling, Harvard 2008

“You must knock on doors until your knuckles bleed. Doors will slam in your face. You must pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and knock again. It’s the only way to achieve your goals in life.” – Michael Uslan, Indiana University 2006

Enjoy This Summer. No Seriously…Enjoy The Shit Out of This Summer: