Girl photographed by Hugh Magnum c. 1909

I’ve been thinking about it all morning. What would the plot points be for that? What makes a 30 year old coming of age story?

Burying a parent that never encouraged independence

Acknowledging a trauma you've spent your life ignoring

Finally opening yourself up to a truly mutual, non-transactional relationship (platonic or romantic)

Student loan forgiveness kicking in, suddenly you can afford to live. That one small change snowballs into something big.

Starting over after the end of The Big Relationship you thought would define your life. Engaging in a new hobby/social group that adds context to how small life felt in that relationship.

You find yourself with a pet you have to care for, which teaches you to care for yourself.

and even if your thing is so niche it's only that one person, you just made their day, in fact it's highly likely they will replay your story in their head for years. stories i didn't even like come back to me at random times because i learned something from them or they evoked an important emotion. sometimes they just used a word in a way that stood out to me and years later i'm using that word that way.