Roaring 20s

The roaring 20s, although typically refers to the decade, has a similar sense with the age of a person. A period in history well known for its rapid progresses in fashion, music and overall culture, we all seem to go through a similar, yet individual change in a parallel sense.

Our 20s are where we first become adults; we come out of the shells of the teenage years, emerging into our young adult lives. It is the decade of our lifetime where we make new friends, lovers, journeys and experiences and progress and process discoveries in ourselves as we cultivate our own identities.

And despite all our lives looking so different, we all - I almost guarantee – get the same gift from this precious time:

A sense of roaring and raging anxiety.

A term I’ve heard thrown round is The Panic Years, which I resonate muchly with; the first decade of our adult life where we know nothing and learn everything, with what can feel like no guidance (how much did our parents prepare us for this?). The years where we make new friends, but lose old ones, find new loves after we’ve mended the broken heart of the ones before, journeys we’ve relished and the one’s we’ve questions, the experiences we’ve appreciated and the ones we’ve regretted. Some of us are fruitful in marriage, some are healthier in the gym, some of us are affluent at work, some of us are vastly travelled, and some of us aren’t any of these.

A time where we legally obtain more freedom and thus our horizons broaden. Nonetheless, with broaden horizons comes more choices, more decisions and all the little things we couldn’t wait to dictate and control when we were, but young children turn from joyful possibilities to tedious tasks. We become irritated by the constant questions of our lives posed from loved ones and from ourselves – questions that demand an answer, an answer that cannot be fathomed into existence.

We are young though, so enjoy! A frequent trail shoved down our throats by an elder generation. Have they forgotten what their own 20s were like? Were their woes so much different to ours? Where is the compassion for this constant freeing sense of feeling forever young and simultaneously the weight of my own mortality upon my chest like an elephant’s foot; I bestow all the time in the world, but also a deadline which I know not when it is, but that it is vastly approaching. Everything feels meaningful and wasteful, as any sense of balance becomes intangible.

Comparison kills and it’s all we do in this modern age of social media. Our paths are all equally and rightfully our own and our time will come; and like a second puberty some of us are later bloomers than others. And for some, that blossoming is pretend; a mere reflection of someone’s inner fantasy of what that person wishes their life looked like. That is the double-edged sword of online: we can pose as anyone and anything we want.

So, how does one survive such an unnerving time?

In fullest honesty: you tell me, because, what the fuck?

I do suppose, there is reassurance in the matter that, we are not alone in these experiences. And like all those who have gone through their 20s and come out the other side, our time will come, wherever we take that road of ours to. Patience and perseverance. I spend this time laying the groundwork for my future self - with a lot of hope they’ll know how to build further upon it. Yes, patience, perseverance and a lot of hope is how I make my tea at night.