#twentywhat

Welcome to 20 What, where I’ll be chronicling the glamorous life a a 20-something girl living in Manhattan! 

LOL JK YOU CAME TO THE WRONG PLACE IF THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE AFTER. Here’s a quick briefing on my life:

 I just turned* 24 and “celebrated” my six year anniversary of moving to ol’ Manhattan. The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. The Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of. I’ve always dreamed of living in New  York City - as a little kid my dad printed out a picture of Columbia University’s library, tacked it up behind my computer, and told me “That could be you.”** My Bat Mitzvah theme was NYC - I went from fancy store (Bloomingdale’s) to fancier store (Sak’s) one sweltering  summer afternoon in the summer of 2005, asking for free shopping bags to integrate into the party’s decor. When I got in to NYU***, I was so fucking pumped that I didn’t sleep for a week. I would lay in bed and stay up all night thinking of my soon to be exciting/cool/sexy life in New York. I had this weird fantasy of meeting a boy in a stairwell, falling in love, and walking from wherever we were across the Brooklyn Bridge.**** And that somehow New York was the answer to my unhappiness as an overweight suburban girl who liked weird music.

Six years later, this is where I’m at: bored af, broke af, single af (in total, read: unhappy af)***** I have a job that I hate in a field that I thought I would love - and am bored everyday, knowing that I could be somewhere else contributing something useful to society. I live in an apartment that I can’t afford, am apparently on a strict “1 new friend per year” policy, and haven’t found a boy that doesn’t make me hate myself. My current goal is to get through the day without going over my Weight Watchers points allotment, and figure out what the fuck I’m going to do with my life.

It’s the Six Year Slump, as I’m calling it - the total unraveling of my love for New York. I feel like time is running out before I really have to get my shit together. I know I’m “only 24″ and have so much “life to live” blah blah blah - but why should I be complacent in being unhappy? 20 What is my attempt to get myself on track, to get myself in a place where I can make the necessary changes to get this so called shit together. So commiserate with me. Please. 

x.x.

20 What 

#1

PS - Song of the day is “Agnes” by Glass Animals (you’re welcome).

*First typed this out as “tearned” - I’m doing great!

** Those Ivy League dreams were quickly washed away once I failed my first Trigonometry test.

***Much more realistic.

****As of 8/31/16, this has not happened.

Hey,

Practice listening more than you talk. It’s not a guy or girl thing. It’s a human being thing. Look up articles about what makes people like-able. Conversation etiquette. Look up things about empathy and listening and humility. Better yourself as a human. Do it. Should I do it? Yeah. Should everyone do it? Hell yeah. Everyone should practice being less selfish and less self centered. Once in a while—be so humble that you ask for advice, ask what someone’s thoughts are on a subject. Make someone feel valuable. Do that to people. Make them feel valuable. Say things that make them feel acknowledged. Because it’s what you want. Treat others the way you want to be treated. If only everyone followed that mantra through and through.

I wish people listened to each other more. Acknowledging others is a beautiful thing. Be interested in people. Respect what they have to say and show them, really show them, then and there that you hear them. If you agree with them, say the words, “I completely agree with you.”