Culture Shock -- Never Settle

Reflecting on my twenties up to this moment, I am left with thoughts of how I navigated the past seven years. 

I decided recently to revive this blog, for myself and for my re-branding -- Just going with the flow to see where this leads me. Reading through my old posts (both published and drafted), I can see what took up most of my thoughts throughout the years, as well as the changes within how I choose to communicate. 

Five words: I AM THANKFUL FOR GROWTH!

Over the years I have been faced with many lessons. With each year feeling different from the year before. The moments that I thought would end me, turned out to be blessings and lessons well deserved. I am twenty-seven now, with a birthday coming up next month. I graduated from SCAD with a film & tele degree (not the fashion degree I was accepted for), and I am considering another degree. I am in a healthy, committed relationship, and I have a few short films under my belt. I have been defining my identity and strengthening my spirituality.

Over the years, my world was defined by survival mode. I've had my ups and downs dealing with anxiety and depressive episodes. I've faced many lessons challenging me to use my voice during adversities rather than shrinking myself. I cringe at how I've responded to certain situations or relationships. I reacted immaturely when I was hurt, I cared way too much about what others thought of me, and I sunk inside my mind when overflowing thoughts sponsored by my abandonment issues surfaced. During these seven years, I searched for myself, and I feel like I am making great progress. The late twenties are great, the early twenties were a beautiful mess. 

I've had so many different aesthetics, so many different great ideas, and opportunities that I did not complete due to my lack of direction, or fear of taking the next step. Today, I am following through on my word, I am putting myself in spaces 22-year-old me would run from, and I am attracted to commitment. 

I was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed when I arrived in Atlanta to start my life. My world expanded, and many times I had no idea what to do with it. Culture shock in every sense of the word, and not just because I moved from a suburb in Michigan to a slightly crowded city, but also due to my transformation whilst seeing the world from my own point of view separate from the one given to me growing up. 

Cheers to the latter years of being twenty-something 🥂