The whole idea behind these series of posts was birthed out of a conversation I was having with my friend-quasi-mentor Laura. We were discussing my upcoming birthday and my reservations with it. Why it was bugging me to be 25 and all of that. What she said to me took me by surprise but the more I thought about it, the more truth I began to see in it.

“Crystal, you’re totally experiencing your mid-life crisis at 25.”

We began to dissect this apart just a bit, to elaborate on what she meant. You see, I have already experienced a kind of personal pain, triumph, disappointment, immense joy and immense sadness—that most at 25 haven’t even begun to touch. Have grown into an old soul, so to speak. And because of that, I created for myself expectations, in order to survive what life threw at me, whatever it would be. I had placed on myself expectations about where I’d be, what I’d accomplish and what I’d have by a given age.

And that age is 25. Because my life doesn’t necessarily reflect those pre-expectations: in my mind, I’ve failed. Period.

However, I certainly am somewhere and have accomplished things—so I need to see those things as not in vain but as a part of who I am. I’m embracing this present crisis as a point in my life to evaluate where I’ve been and where I am. And even embrace my short-comings and unmet expectations. This isn’t a mid-life crisis, but it is recreation time. Time to recreate my expectations—or to just blow them up completely.

The next few posts will discuss these expectations of where I thought I’d be. Stay tuned.

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I thought this cartoon was fitting and was inspiration for this post: