23. 2020. TBC.

I remember the night when the clock struck midnight and my then-new iPhone date changed, calendar pages got ripped off, setting free a new clear page with zero markings or lines, completely free for me to draw on: Approximately 9 years, 7 days and 6 hours ago: It was January 1st, 2010.

It's been super long since I actually sat down and wrote a blog post. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been writing- I’ve been writing a lot actually, but not usually about me or my wellbeing, but political issues and ‘the globe’s wellbeing’ if that even makes sense. Yet as another decade comes to a close, I felt that I should at least reflect on it and think of the ways it has changed me. This decade, after all, is where I grew up to be the young adult I am, starting it with 13 and ending it with 23. 

23. It’s such an odd number to me. In my grandmother’s time, somewhere remote in Eastern Greece, 23 meant that you probably would already be married for a few years, have had a couple of kids and established your own ‘nuclear’ family. When I look around now, I see some the same age as me getting engaged, and a very few even taking a further step and having baby showers, (odd) gender reveals, and many other things that bring that familiar feeling of mixed timelines and making me think how so many of my peers could desire such different paths. 

The past decade saw me go to and graduate from high school, move from Istanbul to London, finish my undergraduate degree, make friends, lose friends, experience drama, relationships, heartbreak, love… and most importantly, it brought with it growth. Now, at 23, nearing the very end of 2019, I’m halfway through a Master’s degree, working part time, and writing- well, most of the time. 

Hoping this decade is the one where I find further-growth, inspirational friendships, hopefully get an adult job, keep trusting the universe and even people who don’t deserve it. I leave this post unfinished, without a full stop,

who ever knows what is to come¿

Photo by Issey Gladston