Thirty One - Shikha la mode

I’m (almost) thirty one! And of course I have some thoughts.

Time is weird, especially in the midst of a global pandemic + civil rights movement. This year more than ever, I’m reeling around how time even works. 60+ years have passed without giving BIPOC the respect, resources, and rights they deserve. 4+ months have passed without mitigating the course of a deadly disease. In between all that, 31 years passed and here I am—evolving and doing things.

The world is going through a reckoning and forcing each of us to have our own. We are frustrated, uncomfortable, listening and screaming. Personally, I am thinking hard about what my purpose is. What are things that need to stop and be purged? What things can I start that nourish me (besides desserts) and weave tightly into my origin story?

In the spirit of starting, earlier this week I asked you all about things you did for the first time in your thirties. It was a spontaneous reflection stemming from a New Yorker cartoon, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Your answers were wide ranging and heartfelt, a reminder of how diverse our stories are and how there is no real timeline for anything.

As promised, I’m sharing a list of my own firsts since turning thirty as well as the firsts I want to do as my thirties continue—a toast to all sorts of new things we can do whenever it is right for us to do them.

(also – check out last year’s post on turning 30!)

Things I did for the first time since turning thirty: