July 6, 2023

I made another lap around the sun today.

The Earth has its little day to celebrate, I have mine.

I think we’re both cute for that.

I consider this my new year,

A way to celebrate making it one more time.

A period for reflection and change.

My birthday brings with it a new season, a new Western zodiac sign, and new life.

So what does 24 mean to me?

It means I am finally entering the middle of a decade.

It means growing up just that little bit more without losing my childlike wonder.

It means responsibility to those who come after.

It means taking control of my behavior, my decisions, my relationships.

It means responsibility to myself and others, but it also means freedom.

I pay my bills.

I work hard.

I have a lovely little cat.

I have a great roommate.

I have repaired my broken past.

I have people I can lean on.

I have newfound passions.

I have sought and recieved adequate treatment.

I have a pretty stable life right now. And 24 means freedom in gratitude. It means freedom from society’s expectations of where I “should” or “shouldn’t” be, and focusing on being there for others to help them reach stability. It means spreading the same self-forgiveness and self-acceptance I took so long to find.

This does not mean I can’t have aspirations. I want to succeed in my writing and music. I want to finally step into becoming me. I want to go places and experience what the world has to offer with my own eyes, in my own time. And I’ll get there, but the balance is in taking just as much time to look around as I am behind or ahead.

Ultimately: 24 means finally thriving, not surviving. Cheers to the next quarter and beyond.