Member-only story
Things I Learned at 27
A Letter to Myself on the Eve of my 28th Birthday
You, and only you, are responsible for your own emotions. When your heart is aching and you are waiting for someone else to heal it, you will realize that you are the only person that can give yourself the closure you so desperately desire. Walking down that rainy street in some New York City borough and having the grace to let someone go, to close a door completely, to be willing to break your own heart — this will be a small but life-altering lesson.
There is such a thing as a relationship with steaming hot chemistry and absolutely zero compatibility. Don’t spend too much time here. Bending yourself to be someone you are not will never be the way. Romanticizing dysfunction does not a love story make. Having imaginary conversations and playing out scenarios like a playwright in your head will not help you. You will only hurt your own feelings. You should not have to lay on the couch with crystals on you before you see someone or sing mantras to calm your beating heart. If you’re doing that, run the opposite way. Your energy, time, and space are sacred. Treat them as such.
Writing will save your life. Those early mornings, dark black coffee, endless journal entries, meticulous notes, and the same songs on repeat will add up to something. You will write a book and then…
