Age 31

Age 31.

Today is my 31st birthday. Last year, I celebrated my birthday with a 30k hike in Northwest New Jersey. It was awesome. I went to two diners that day, and even during the pandemic, it was exactly how I wanted to spend my 30th birthday.

Since then, so much has changed. I moved and then moved again. People are probably sick of me talking about moving, but that was age 30 for me. Moving and moving again.

I never celebrated a birthday in Napa, Ca. I’m not really sure what I would have done there. Hike? Go out to San Francisco? I don’t really know. But it doesn’t matter because I’m not there anymore.

Age 30 was a year of uncertainty for me; I suppose—a year of growth and a year of uncertainty.

Today, July 12th, I am spending with my parents and one of my brothers. In recent years, I’ve celebrated a few birthdays with my parents.

I’ve typed a “what I learned from age 30” post a few times. Now it just seems silly.

Every year I learn things. In fact, every day, I learn things. I’m definitely a different person than when I left NJ a year ago. Not in a bad way, just in a different way. A year changes anyone, even in subtle ways. The pandemic changed everyone. Moving changes people.

I don’t know what I have learned. What qualifies me to even write that, minus I am another year older.

I guess the biggest lesson from age 30 is to be flexible. Life will not turn out how you planned. I didn’t really plan to move during a pandemic, but we did. The older I get, the more flexible I get. It’s a hard cry from 21 year old me that hated starting something at 6:01 when the timeline said 6:00.

Maybe it was the pandemic that taught me to be more flexible. Maybe it was getting older or moving twice. I don’t really know or care, but that is what happened over the last year.

As I reflect on age 30, it was a good year. It was a weird year, but it was a weird year for everyone. I’m looking forward to the next year and what life has in store for me.