Lessons From My 20s (Part 2)

On friendship, burnout, butter, and becoming.

Friendship at dusk.

I’ve been 30 for just over a month and have already learned so much. Most of what I’ve learned has to do with people’s responses to authoritarianism and violence—but we’ll save that essay for another day.

Today, we’re taking it back to what I learned as I went from a starving, self-hating 20-year-old to a full (though sometimes malnourished due to illness) and confident (and only occasionally self-hating) 30-year-old. I gathered these lessons around dinner tables, on roadtrips and hiking trails, in hospital hallways, through podcasts and books, in countless hours of therapy, and while lying sick in bed. I look forward to reading this list in another 30 years and saying to myself, “oh boy, you have so much to learn.”