hello,
i’m sending this out on my birthday. i’ve spent the past few days trying to put down coherent birthday-themed thoughts and failed gloriously. i actually don’t have much to say. the past year has been exhausting and i’m only just starting to get out of it; the musings will come later.
the weekly Substack curation in my inbox pleasantly surprised me today. i stumbled upon a 17-year-old’s birthday newsletter that made me nostalgic. the writer quotes Sylvia Plath and refers to themselves as a snake “shedding a more naïve version” of themselves to become more of their self every year. the sentences are laced with a profound sadness and hope; it’s beautiful.
i further discovered two more birthday newsletters titled “23 Things To Remember at 23” and “On turning 20.” i enjoyed both. it’s always a delight to read about how people are perceiving the ‘growing up’ part of their life.
all this reading was an unexpected reminder of how transformative life can feel in the first two-ish decades. every feeling has the weight of the world attached to it; every experience feels monumental. with every passing year, you feel older and wiser beyond anything you’ve experienced before. there’s just so much seriousness in the world and so much time is spent trying to make sense of that seriousness. or at least that’s how it was for me and i saw a little bit of that reflected in the words of these three writers.
i feel incapable of writing like that anymore. when i read their words, i am in awe of how much i understand and believe every thought. but, things are different now. i tend to spend a lot more time trying to find things that make my life unserious. more on that some other time.
We’re all prisoners to the passage of time.
people i shared my school lunches with are getting married. my closest friends are scattered across continents, engulfed in their personal endeavours that i can’t relate to anymore. one afternoon, i realize that a lot of events registered under the “Yesterday” tab in my mind actually happened a year ago. all of this feels strange but isn’t. what i experience and feel and think is experienced and felt and thought of by many who came before me. that’s just how it’s always been.
so no big epiphanies or takeaways this time. just a reminder to myself (and maybe to you, the reader), that life is better lived unserious-ly.
Ending this with some recommendations:
The friendship problem - On all the reasons why having friends that aren’t your neighbors or work buddies becomes tougher as we grow older.
Another cliche “X things I learnt this year” type of post, but I liked this one more than the others. The last one is my favorite: “One day your partner will tell you that you’ve gotten better at resting in the years since you met and you will feel proud about this achievement for weeks.”
This video of Emma Watson revealing the contents of her Prada backpack has gotten me through the second half of 2023. She pulls out a pack of tarot cards and utters such deep wisdom: “You can’t always be in the reaping stage or harvest stage of life. Life has seasons.”
(Skip to 6.55, if you want to watch it.)I was positively touched by this clip of crabs uniting to protect a spy crab in return for shielding their little one.
The latest Womaning in India is a must-read on the social challenges that prevent women from prioritizing their health. Creepy gym trainers, unsolicited advice from family members and random men are just some of the many reasons.
(Also, on an unrelated note, I’m quite impressed by Substack’s social media-fication and all the new features.)
Until next time!