If You’re 27, Here Are Some Things You Need To Hear Right Now

You’re not 50. And even when you are, you’re going to be so much happier than you are right now because by then, maybe you’ll have some of this life shit figured out. 

I’m a writer. I picked up a pen when I was in the first grade and I haven’t put it down since. I’ve been published, written articles, wrote a children’s book, and yet whenever someone asks me what I do for a living, I’m shamed over the fact that I can’t respond that I’m a writer. I had a mental breakdown about this Thursday night. I cried and cried and cried over how unfair life is. Why is it that every person in my friend group is working in the field they love except for me? How come mine is just a hobby? Even my fiance has his dream job as a Senior Producer for a television station making a weekly TV show. I’m surrounded by people who are consistently more successful than me and it’s hard sometimes, like on Thursday night, to keep a clear head. It’s hard sometimes to keep motivated.

But why? 27 isn’t 50. It’s not 60, not 70, not deceased. It’s not a symbolism for growing too old too quickly and by the time you hit a certain age, that’s it: you’re too old and subsequently too stupid to keep on trying.

27 is a confusing age more than people make it out to be, because you’re right on that cusp of being too close to 30. For a lot of millennials in my life, 30 is a number to be feared. We were all told so often growing up that once we greet our twenties, our hopes and dreams will be smooth sailing. And hasn’t that been the biggest lie ever? Between the outrageous cost of student loans, lack of jobs, dating apps that are more focused with fucking than relationships, we’ve certainly had smooth sailing during our twenties: the times when we’re supposed to make mistakes, move, travel, have fun before settling down. How exactly are we supposed to do that with student loans, rent that is unaffordable and jobs that only want to pay a Bachelor’s level graduate $13 an hour?

This is why that 30 complex that older generations scoff at us for is a legitimate fear. We feel like we missed out on our twenties and then, 27 happens and it’s like we’re pushing up against that glass ceiling and we feel the need to break it, shatter it before we grow a second older. 

27 is when all your friends are getting married or at least engaged. Half of them have children or are getting pregnant for the first time. At least for me, all of that seems pretty stifling. Suddenly I want to move to the West Coast, start fresh, get a new career and try this twenties thing all over again. I’m afraid of settling.

And that’s really the curse of being 27. It’s wrapped up in so many emotions both familiar and strange and you want a little bit of everything. Here’s the thing, though, twenty-seven is not dead. It’s young enough to quit that job or to move cross country. It’s old enough to have children and watch them grow. It’s young enough to still travel. It’s old enough to get married, to buy a house. It’s young enough to still be in college, figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life because you still HAVE the rest of your life.

27 isn’t 30, yet. It’s full of possibilities still and a lot of hard work. 27 is that age where you can make it be whatever it is you want it to be. Don’t waste it away.