Feeling 22

Last week I turned 22 years old, and I don’t know how to feel about it. 22 really signifies that college definitely is over because going back to freshman year Carly, the thought of turning 22 was scary because it meant I would already be graduated. As is the case for most birthdays, I didn’t wake up miraculously feeling different or like something had changed.

I think the wildest thing that happened on my birthday in all honesty was the fact that I took a nap. This may sound a bit funny, but to anyone who knows me well they know that naps aren’t part of my daily routine and it’s very out of the ordinary for me to take a nap during the day. It felt a little appropriate as part of my first birthday “in the real world” that I felt the need to take a nap, but to many of my friends that’s already a regular part of their day for them to get an energy boost.

Taking a nap wasn’t the highlight of the birthday festivities though thankfully. I got dinner with a bunch of my friends at Sup Dogs and a few days later celebrated with my family at Mellow Mushroom, two of my favorite restaurants in Chapel Hill and Cary. Everyone made me feel so loved and appreciated, and all in all this was a solid birthday. Plus my sister made me a beautiful cake inspired by Sunflower, Vol. 6, which is one of my favorite Harry Styles songs, so that automatically makes it a great birthday for me.

Birthdays have definitely been hit or miss for me in the past. There is so much societal pressure around them to make them the best day ever that they tend to feel underwhelming if every second of your day isn’t filled with all the things you want to do. And even though this birthday wasn’t the most exciting day of my life, it was a good day and the fact that I wasn’t being celebrated at every moment shouldn’t take away from the parts of the day that I did get to spend with my friends.

As my grandpa says to me every time he calls me on my birthday, time really flies and it will just continue to go by faster and faster with every birthday. Although I have already had most of the landmark birthdays at this point, I’m excited to see what will happen during my Taylor Swift year and the lead up to my Jordan year.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *