Han Meets Quarter Life Crisis!?
This is partly satirical. I always scoffed at the idea of a quarter-life crisis. "Really?! Breaking down and feeling lost in your twenties?! What a concept!" My eighteen year old self would mock.
*Me at 19 (Paris 2012) - hope you enjoy the massive trendy side bang...
Then graduation hit and the reality hit. The wider world is nothing like uni. You don't get to see all your friends in the same place - particularly as the majority will move across the country or out of the country entirely. You wonder if any of those people were friends in the first place and, to be honest, the idea of staying in for the night with your cat (I don't have a cat) suddenly seems much more enticing.
Tax, pensions and national insurance, once something you could laugh off, now hit your salary very hard. And if you're working from an agency, say goodbye to another cut of your precious dollar. I think of the clothes I might have actually been able to afford, *cry face*.
The career path, more like winding treacherous mountain track of uncertainty. At 16, I worked my butt off in various roles to increase my skills and all through uni. At 24, I have those skills but employers don't know what to do with me... So I've taken to bumbling in and out of various roles in the hope for an in to the 'right' department. However writing my CV this week has made for some tough calls and once where my CV looked pretty squeaky clean and steady, it looks as confused as I did ten years ago having to start choosing my career!
*Back in the day when all I had to do was jump in a pool for a crazy pic to get a job (2015).
An evening. I sometimes question if being ambitious really is a good thing as evenings are no longer a relax with a glass of red occasion. But extended working hours in the hope of fulfilling a couple of childhood dreams. Seriously, if I could go back and tell my school or uni self to start sooner and stop wasting time... Ughhh! Or what if I was just a little less ambitious and all that I needed in life was to go to work and have a couple of glasses of bubbly while sitting on my sun deck in my bean bag - I'm totally jealous eyeballing my neighbours right now...
Ok... Sigh of relief done.
And how about the positives?
I can move around anywhere I want with no notice. Well, maybe a little work and house notice I mean I still pay rent, bills and have the work Chromebook on my chest of drawers... But the freedom of choice is there. I moved to London because I wanted to pursue creative opportunities and meet my own in-crowd. I could have stayed where my salary was steadier and house prices cheaper. Instead I took a massive leap of faith, which, at 24 is going to be a great choice I am sure. No success story is complete without a little struggle, right?
*Seems befitting to put a Brazil (2013) pic in here.
Love life. While I miss the hours you could spend with your crush/person you were dating while in education, discovering what adult relationships are about is actually much more interesting and wonderful. Sure I'm sad I don't have more time sometimes - or money (last time I mention money I swear!!!), facing the world with someone is so much more fun than hiding from it with them. You both have a little more freedom to go places and they don't still take their dirty washing home for their parents to do...
Self-development. Personal and professional development is becoming increasingly more popular with twenty-somethings as companies begin to favour those open to taking on feedback about themselves and their performance. Being someone who has always been open to the idea, I am beginning to see the long term benefits of having taken on self-development coaching in my early twenties as my past crap is being removed from my life and I can get on with creating exactly the life I want - when I have found out roughly what that is. Many people I speak to on my current programme tell me they wish they had completed it at 'my age' and while I am not the youngest in the group, I can tell it's going to set me up well. It's uncomfortable but the benefits are MASSIVE!
Anyway! Rambly post from negative start to hopefully a positive finish.
Do you think quarter-life crisis is a thing!?
Han x
*My last day of exams (June 2015).
