This Is Trash: An Open Letter to My 20s—Reigning Women

Okay. I'm not going to waste any time on this one. For those of you who are in your 20s as well, you know all too well that your 20s are as complicated, stupid, confusing, and much, much more. So much to the point that it's actually humorous to a degree.

I mean, seriously, who TF signed us up for this?

While being 20-something is a gift and we should always acknowledge the gift of life and yadda yadda yadda, the reality is that being 20-something is also hard, and it seems that the moment you graduate from college, your 20s bite you in the ass and leave a mark.

While this article hasn't been formatted as a literal letter, it's still an open conversation about how being 20-something sometimes sucks, big time.

First things first. I know so many people my age who recently left college, transitioned out of their trade school, or simply made a pivot in their life in their 20s and immediately felt unprepared when they entered what snarky adults call the "real world."

It seems as though life makes an enormous shift following those years, you had it figured out and then? Nope, sorry sis. You don't know anything.

Now, in terms of work, I myself cannot complain. I started my own business in college and I'm happily working for myself, but everything else? I do not have the first clue about a thing.

Love, money, relationships, general wellness? All a complete mind f*ck at times, am I right?

The tea about your twenties? They're not freaking easy. They're hard! And anyone who markets your 20s as being completely carefree and free of issue and complication either skipped that decade of their lives or is less than 20 years of age.

So the question really is, why? Why is it so difficult to be a 20-something?

In my own opinion, being a 20-something today means just starting out. My parents, for instance, have each been working since they were 15 and because they didn't go to college, their "starting point" was just around that age.

At 15, I was in high school, thinking about college, thinking about after college. At that time, I wasn't in any way thinking about being 100 percent self-sufficient or responsible. In fact, my parents (may the she-gods bless them) freed up a lot of my time by taking care of things that at their age they would have taken care of for themselves just so I could focus on school, go to college, get a degree, and do everything else I needed to do in order to become "successful."

Here's the deal. I don't by any means disagree with college. I went to college and had an incredible four years of my life. I learned a lot about myself and thankfully formed relationships that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.

The issue? Not one of us learned a thing about life.

The one downfall of college is that at times it can be something of a glorified make-believe land. Food is prepared, fake money is allocated for you, and you get to live with your closest friends without rules, restrictions, or anyone telling you (for the most part) what you can and cannot do. Realistic, right?

Then suddenly you're 22, loaded with debt and no job to pay for it, you have to figure out where you're going to live, what you're going to do with your life and how you're gonna spend it.

On top of that, your personal life is all over the place since your college friends are in your college town and everyone's separating. your relationship is up in the air because you have no idea what either of you is doing, and everything else is just a complete mystery.

Of course, not everyone's situation is this way but I'm talking to the people whose situations are or at least look something like this.

Why am I writing this piece? Because I want women like me to know it's okay. It's okay to not know a thing about your life. Equally as much, I want women to know that it's 100 percent okay and normal to have it together in one area of your life and not have a freaking clue what's going on in another.

As someone who feels like they have their professional life on lock. I'm 100 percent okay with admitting that I'm not falling in love any time soon, and because my professional life is doing so well, you'll rarely find me out and about on the weekends. So? My social life has a tendency to ride the struggle bus.

The reality in all of this is what we weren't really built to know what we want at this age or stage of our lives, though it would be extremely helpful. Our parents and grandparents had the advantage of leaving the house when they were 18 or starting their career without the necessity of a degree. We? didn't have that option.

While a lot of people can argue that we did, the goals that we had were much bigger, and at that time in our lives, college was the turnkey to a successful future.

So? All that time we were in school and "chasing our dreams" we were really delaying the inevitable that is the real world. College didn't do right by us, and that completely sucks.

We miss our friends, we miss the carefree-no-stress life we once lead. WE MISS IT ALL!

So, what do we do? This is my vow as a 20-something borderline driving the shuttle bus.

I vow, as a woman who leads her own life and makes up her own mind n her 20s, to constantly remind myself and those around me that this is a vital stage of our lives. I vow to remind myself of what I have that I'm utterly and eternally grateful for, and I vow to use these formative years as precisely that. I will throw myself into odd situations, I will take care of myself in this stage of my life, I will make new friends, keep old ones close to my heart, and craft a person I absolutely adore. This vow I make not only to myself and this decade of my life but to those around me who struggle with the same thing.

We can do this, sister. We can do this.