Putting it in Perspective

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”

I seem to recall that someone quite famous said this…

If it’s not circled on your calendar, take notice, today is kind of a big deal… I am celebrating my 25th birthday and it’s the official one year anniversary of non-stop-blogging-fun here at Strawberry Roan!

I’d like to think I’ve picked up a couple ‘tricks of the trade’ during my inaugural year in blog-land, one of which being, if you’re going to start a post quoting John Lennon you better have something important to say…

John Lennon was absolutely right.

Ok so his brilliance isn’t a revelation, and yes, I’m going to talk about how it applies to my own life, but you know what? I posted a great fantastic tutorial yesterday and it’s my birthday so just do me a solid and read on (or navigate away, come back tomorrow, and no one will be the wiser).

Birthdays haven’t really been an issue for me before. Turning 16 was cool because I got my driver’s licence, and at 19 I went to the bar for a right-of-passage tequila shot. But this year is different. I’m having some mixed emotions about celebrating another birthday so soon - It does not feel like a full year since the last one.

The issue isn’t with becoming older, I rarely feel my *biological clock ticking away. My concern is what I have to show for another full year under my belt. Twenty-five years seems like such an expanse of time, full of opportunity to achieve amazing things, but I can’t help feel I’ve fallen short.

Where are the crazy years abroad? The half completed Bachelor’s Degree that left me a year behind with the ability to curse in 18 different languages? How about a string of ex-boyfriends that my parent’s hated but taught me about love, heartbreak, and the kind of person I want to be? Perhaps I should stop watching so many movies – I saw The Vow the other night and I think it did some serious damage.

I don’t mean for this to be a pity party (I’ll have that later when I’m alone with leftover cake), after all I did start a blog, paint a bathroom, upholster 5 chairs, bake 60 cupcakes for my dad’s wedding, see Taylor Swift in concert, get a new iPhone, and craft 50% of the Christmas gifts I handed out this year. But it just doesn’t feel like enough.

As always, I’ve got some fabulous plans for 25, that I’m sure will transition onto 26, 27, and 28… One of which is to continue to refer to myself as being in my “early 20s”. I may have learned rounding in elementary school, but I think I’ll just pretend it doesn’t exist for a year or two – really, what’s the harm?

On a side note, I’m second guessing my decision to start a blog on my birthday. Any other day would have given me yet another reason to eat cake. What a shame.

You would think that with two milestones to celebrate I’d have something fabulous planned but that’s not the case – not to dismiss the lovely family dinner my mom has planned for tonight (with cake!). It will be a simple Tuesday night, which suits me just fine.

Enjoy!

Calli

*Disclaimer: In no way am I referring to the biological clock that controls baby-making. I was able to ditch that one in a high-speed James Bond style car chase and won’t see it again for another 5 years.